A Reflection Or More
by Tsukimomo
Summary: SONADOW! A fateful day, Shadow the Hedgehog discovers his rival, battered and broken both physically and mentally. After taking Sonic home he slowly helps the blue hedgehog get back on his feet and return to his old cheerful self. Romance/Drama/Humour
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_It was so cold..._

_It had all happened so fast, he didn't have any time at all to react. Whoever it was, they had had a great advantage since they had used the element of surprise. And now...now he lay there cold, battered and broken. He must have taken quite a few blows to the chest since whenever he breathed in, he could hear a wheezing sound from where his lungs were trying to take in as much air as possible."_

_His eyes seemed to be bleeding, as he remembered seeing red before he was forced to close them, hoping that it would help to take some of the pain away. If he couldn't see the state his body was in, then it wouldn't hurt as much, right?_

_He cringed slightly as a sharp pain shot up his back. This person seemed to have ripped out some of his quills, as he remembered seeing them discarded on the floor. It would probably take a while before they would grow back. But until then, he wouldn't be able to bear looking into the mirror at what remained on his back._

_The ice-cold rain didn't help ease the pain away. In fact, it made it worse, although a large amount of his body had turned numb. He wasn't even sure if he was still lying on the ground since he couldn't sense his left side anymore. The only way he could tell was his arm sprawled on the ground that still had feeling._

_It was quite funny when he thought about it; just about all of his life, he had saved humans from their world being taken over or destroyed. And what did he get in return? This: complete pain and torture. Was that all that humans knew how to create? It was usually their fault that someone wanted to take over their world in the first place._

_The rain slackened, as if someone was hovering over him." It could have just been the concussion, but he could have sworn that someone was near him. He couldn't help but let out a small whimper at the thought of being tortured yet again. He suddenly couldn't feel the ground on his arm. Instead, it was something soft and gentle touching him. There seemed to be a sudden gust of wind before he found himself slipping unconsciousness._


	2. Chapter 1

**If I didn't own Sonic the Hedgehog then would I be writing this fanfiction?**

- - -

**Chapter 1: A Broken Discovery**

Rain was common around this time of year. Lately it had been raining quite heavily. If you were to go into your basement, you would be able to hear the rain smacking against your roof. Despite the fact that it was still morning, it was dark outside. The clouds that covered the sky weren't the normal murky black clouds that were usually covering the sky. Sure they were murky, but they seemed to have a sort of pink glow to them. But it just so happened that the heaviest rainfall was on that one fateful day.

Stood by the window in his small apartment room looking at the heavy rain pouring down was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, a frown placed upon his face. Today was usually the day when Shadow went out to buy anything he needed, and at the moment, he _needed_ to buy more gas for the heating. Sure Shadow was the Ultimate Lifeform, but he still felt temperature changes just as drastically as everyone else does. It wasn't very amusing when he woke up just the other day to find that the gas had run out. Some of his fur was sticking on ends he was so cold.

Shadow sighed as he continued to watch the rain fall. He suddenly noticed three boys running down the street. One was a blonde haired kid with a white hoodie and black jeans, the second was a brown haired teen with a black hoodie and blue pants, whilst the third had black hair and wore a blue hoodie with red pants. Shadow swore that he could see the boys' clothes covered in blood, but he chose to just forget about. _'Kids these days can be almost a violent as Amy when someone insulted her about her dress,'_ Shadow mused.

Sighing yet again, his breath visible in front of him, Shadow made his way over to the coat rack next to the front door where his black raincoat was. He put it on himself before grabbing his keys and exiting the apartment. As he made his way down the steps, he could hear someone shouting something to him about rent, but Shadow paid no mind.

As soon as he stepped out into the icy cold weather, rain smacked Shadow so hard in the face that he had to close his eyes to prevent any damage to those crimson orbs of his. He could've sworn that some of the rain was frozen daggers.

Shadow quickly made his way to the corner shop, not wanting to be out in the icy rain for long. As he entered the shop, the ring of a bell announcing his arrival, Shadow instantly began warming up. He reached into his wallet, taking out his gas card and some money before heading over to the counter.

The bell above the door suddenly rang again. Shadow looked over to see the blonde kid he had seen running earlier. Those were definitely blood stains on his hoodie. When the shopkeeper asked where the blood had come from the boy said that it wasn't blood but red paint that he had accidentally spilt on his hoodie a while ago and had never washed out. The kid stood next to Shadow. Shadow soon realized that the boy was eyeing him.

"Any particular reason you're staring at me?" the black hedgehog asked, sounding annoyed.

The boy chuckles. "You're rather small aren't you?" he replied. Shadow noticed the maniacal touch in his voice.

"And your point is?"

"Small things are so vulnerable."

"Here's your receipt, sir," the shopkeeper said, handing Shadow the said item along with his card.

Shadow frowned at the boy before exiting the shop. He huffed a little when the rain smacked against his face again. It seemed as though the wind had changed directions while he was in that shop, otherwise the rain wouldn't be hitting him square in the face.

He quickly began making his way back to his apartment, but stopped when he heard a strange noise. A strange whimpering sound. It was coming from an alley close by. Shadow quickly followed the sound, seeming interested in finding out what exactly was making that whimpering sound. When he finally reached the alley, he stared down at the small crumpled body on the floor, mud and blood covering it almost entirely. Shadow walked up to the body and knelt down. He gasped lightly upon recognizing a patch of royal blue fur that hadn't been concealed by mud and blood. It was none other than his rival, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now, Sonic was his rival, but that didn't mean Shadow would just leave him there to probably die unless someone else happened to stumble upon him. But then again, if someone else were to find him, they could cause the blue hedgehog more harm. Close by, Shadow could see a couple of what looked like Sonic's more smaller quills, one of the ones that made up his larger quills. When Shadow looked back at the battered body, he noticed that his larger quills looked as though they had small chunks missing out of them. Shadow sighed before picking up his rival, one hand under the hedgehog's arms while the other was under his knees before running back to his apartment.

- - -

As soon as Shadow returned to his apartment, he gently placed Sonic on the couch before registering that he had bought some gas in the meter and turning the heating on full. He headed to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. On the top shelf was a first aid kit which he grabbed before heading back to where Sonic's unconscious body was. He also brought a towel to help dry the blue hedgehog's fur. He gently pressed it against his body, being careful not to cause Sonic any more pain than what he already had to deal with.

After drying as much of the azure hedgehog as he could, Shadow decided to inspect his wounds. He looked from the hedgehog's head downwards. His left ear looked as though someone had bitten into and taken a chunk out of it, not too big, but it still looked like quite a large chunk. Shadow could help but flinch at the bloody mess around his left eye. If he wasn't mistaken, then it looked as though someone had rammed a weapon of some sort into his eye and then started to twist it around, making the giant hole in his eyeball bigger. Even after cleaning up some of the mess around there was still blood around that area. His other was surrounded by a large black ring that would most likely get worse overtime. There was a large gash on his stomach with plasma now slowly seeping out of it. The hedgehog's left arm had just recently been set right by Shadow, as it was bending in an awkward, unnatural way. His left leg was covered in bruises so bad that they were turning a sickly green while his other leg was covered in small cuts that would probably soon heal overtime. Shadow sighed and began patching the other hedgehog up in bandages.

When he finished, Shadow looked at the battered body, a thoughtful look on his face. Who an earth could have done something like this to the faker? And more importantly why? Sonic must have dropped his guard pretty badly if someone was able to put him in this condition. But why would Sonic drop his guard? He almost always kept it up in case of a surprise Eggman attack. Shadow closed his eyes, knowing that if he wanted answers then he would have to wait until the faker awakens.

- - -

A week had passed since Shadow had found Sonic battered and bruised in that alleyway. Sonic still hadn't woken up and Shadow thought it best to put him in his room while he slept on the couch instead. Countless times he had asked himself why he was even taking care of the azure hedgehog himself instead of taking him up to the hospital or dumping him with one of Sonic's friends. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't come to a conclusion. He sometimes stood next to the bed, getting ready to pick the other hedgehog up and take him somewhere else. But in the end he couldn't bring himself to do it.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and Shadow was told to see his landlord. He now sat in the landlord's living room on a purple couch. The landlord was stood in front of him looking very unhappy. "Do you know why I asked you to come here?" he asked Shadow.

The ebony hedgehog rested his face in the palm of his hand. "Humor me," he replied simply, sounding like he wasn't interested. The truth was that he's rather be keeping an eye on Sonic. What if the azure hedgehog were to wake up during his absence? He had no idea how he would react to it. He defiantly didn't want to head back up to his apartment to find it completely destroyed with a confused hedgehog stood in the middle of it all.

The landlord grinded his teeth together and folded his arms. "You listen here! I am not trying to make a joke out of this situation just to make you laugh!"

"Oh, I assure you, sir, that if I wanted a laugh then I'd go watch 'America's Got Talent'. Those people who think that they've got talent are absolute jokes to humanity. And you wonder why I tried to kill you all." If Shadow weren't wearing gloves, then he would be looking at his claws, suggesting that he completely did not care about what the landlord wanted to say. But since they were on, he just had to make a rough estimation whereabouts his claws were.

"And_ you_ wonder why we tried to kill you too!" the landlord spat back. "Why don't I come straight to the point?"

"Well if you had done that in the first place then it wouldn't have taken as long, now would it?" Shadow replied, cockily. "You should learn not to get distracted by things."

The landlord suddenly moved closer so that he and Shadow were both face to face. "Well this isn't about _me_! This is about you and your rent! Just because you also saved this planet then that doesn't mean I am going to let you off!"

Shadow grunted and pulled a wallet out from deep in his quill and took out all the notes that were in it, which wasn't much. "Happy now?" he asked, handing it to the landlord. After counting it, the landlord shook his head. "What!? But that's exactly how much the rent costs!"

"For one person, yes. But I've heard that there is someone else staying in your room! So that means the rent is doubled!"

Shadow sighed. "Okay, how about this? At the end of the month I will pay you the rest of the money for last month as well as this month. Deal?"

The landlord thought for a moment before sighing. "Okay, fine. But if you don't pay it then you're out of here! You are now free to go."

'_Sounds like his treating me as if I'm a prisoner. Stupid human,'_ Shadow thought to himself as he exited the landlord's home and walking up the stairs to his own apartment. _'Home at last.'_ He looked around for any sign of activity since he had been gone. Nothing.

The ebony hedgehog walked into his bedroom where Sonic lay in the bed. It was a simple looking room. The walls were red, the carpet was black, there was a window on the left wall, the bed had black sheets with red pillows, some drawers were next to the bed that had a lamp and a digital clock on top, and a closet next to the window. Behind the door stood a small, black, round bin, currently full of bloody bandages.

Shadow suddenly left the room and went into the kitchen, grabbed a pen and a small piece of paper and wrote, 'Don't mess up my house, gone to the shop, Shadow.' He then placed the paper on top of the drawers, leaning it up against the clock so that it was more visible.

- - -

It hurt. Where did it hurt? Everywhere. Every single part of his body was in pain. So much pain that he couldn't move. So much pain that he couldn't even open his eyes. What had he done to deserve this? What had he done that as punishment he would have to endure this overwhelming amount of pain? He had to admit that there were little slips in his life, but he had made up for them. If he could move, then he would cringe as an image came to mind. It was the faces of the ones who did this to him. They were just teenagers like him. How could they do something so cruel to someone that hadn't done anything bad?

He began thinking of a friend of his. A friend of his that hated mankind so much that he would go as far as killing them. When he first met this friend, he couldn't understand why he hated humans so much. He had always seen them as good people who would take care of you if you were weary. But now...Now he was beginning to doubt that.

He mentally slapped himself as he remembered what happened in the alley. He was so stupid! How could he have let his guard down and let them do this to him? Why didn't he fight back? Why was he a coward and thought they had mistaken him for someone else and would leave him alone once they recognized who he was? And what was that noise?

- - -

The door slammed shut so hard that the doorframe in the kitchen rattled. The one who slammed it looked as though he was in a bad mood as usual. He put down two carrier bags before taking his raincoat off and shaking himself, trying to shake off the droplets of rain. Yes, once again it was raining. No surprise there. Shadow picked up the carrier bags and headed into the kitchen before unpacking his groceries. Once that was done he grabbed a towel and began drying his fur off. He was thankful that he still had a little money in his bank account otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get the groceries.

A small notebook on the kitchen table caught his attention. He frowned once he recognized what it was. Whilst he was out, his landlord must have come in and placed it there. It was his rent book. He opened it to find a small note written by the landlord.

'_Give this back by the end of the month with the money,_

_Landlord'_

That idiot had no right to come into his home during his absence. His eyes widened in realization as a thought suddenly came to mind. What if he had seen Sonic? If he did see a world hero in such a state in _his_ house, and since they used to try and kill each other, then what if the landlord had come to the conclusion that _he_ had done this to Sonic and that he was keeping him there until he woke up so that he could beat him more? But that was a little far fetch, right? But still, he may have called the police.

Shadow dropped the towel and rent book and ran into his bedroom. He sighed when he saw Sonic still unconscious in his bed. Slowly, he walked towards the hedgehog and took a closer look at him. He was in such as horrid state. What if he was injured mentally as well as physically? What affect would that have on him once he woke up?

He didn't know why he did it, but Shadow slowly brought his hand to Sonic's face and trailed a finger across his features. He came to a stop when he felt something. Something wet, and warm. He moved his hand away so that he could see it properly. "Tears?" he mumbled. There they were. Small streams that came from the azure hedgehog's good eye. If he had been crying, then that must mean that he would wake up soon.

It was then Shadow noticed the note he had propped up against the clock before he left. He grabbed it, ripped it then placed it in the bin. He then glanced back at the bed before going out of the room. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back at the bed looking a bit startled. An emerald orb was staring tiredly at him. It took a few seconds for Shadow to register what was going on. Once he did, his expression became calm. "Welcome back," he said to the now awake Sonic the Hedgehog.

The two hedgehogs stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Shadow could see that the faker's eye was still quite wet from where he had cried a little just a moment ago. He suddenly felt bad when he glanced at the bandage that was wrapped around Sonic's head and covered his bad eye. The pain must have been agonizing when it happened.

Sonic was the first to pull away their gaze. He began looking around the room frantically. He grabbed the covers and tore them away, standing and attempting to run when he found himself losing balance and his left leg fell to the ground, soon followed by the rest of his body. He mentally cursed himself for doing so and gritted his teeth, trying his best to mask the pain he felt. He had already felt so weak back at the alley and he didn't want that to happen again in case the same events unfolded as before.

Shadow watched the other as his head shifted from one place to another before he attempted to get out of bed and run off, only to fall to the floor. He shook his head and slowly approached him. "You're injured," he pointed out, kneeling down next to him. "You shouldn't move about. You have a sight disadvantage so if you were to run about like a maniac then you would most likely bump into something, thus injuring yourself further."

Sonic clenched his fists, tensing a little when Shadow spoke. At his last comment he looked at his counterpart in the eye, a shocked expression clear on his face. He used his arm that didn't hurt as much and brought a hand up to where the bandage had been wrapped to cover his eye. His expression suddenly saddened, not paying attention to the fact that Shadow had lifted him back into bed and placed the covers atop of him.

"Hungry?" the ebony hedgehog asked after placing Sonic back into bed. He waited a few minutes, but the other didn't reply. "Suit yourself," he mumbled before exiting the room, closing the door.

In truth, Sonic was starving, yet at the same time he didn't feel like eating. His head hurt pretty bad and tiny stings attacked his abdomen every now and then. It put him off eating. His ear twitched as he just managed to catch what Shadow mumbled before he heard the door closing.

He lifted his gaze from the bed covers to the now closed door. He remembered back to when he was left in the alley, and he could feel wind suddenly hitting him harder than average wind would. He then outstretched his left arm, cringing a little at the pain, and stared at the bandages. He put two and two together and guessed that Shadow had found him, brought him to his home and then began treating his wounds. Sonic found himself feeling a little embarrassed for letting the other hedgehog see him in such a week state.

Placing his weight on his other arm, he slowly attempted to prop himself up to get a better look at the room, only to fall back down, a wave of dizziness passing through him, causing the room to start spinning. A sickly feeling rose up his throat, as if he were about to vomit. Black dots darted about his vision as other things began to blur. Breathing heavily, he squeezed his eye shut and gripping his head with his hands, trying to block out the blur, spotty, spinning room. But despite the fact that could not see the room, it still felt like everything was spinning. He opened his eye the slightest to see a blurred figure rushing towards him before he lost consciousness.

- - -

He knew that what he had just done could be seen as harsh, but that was the kind of guy he was, right? If Sonic wanted food then he should have said so instead of completely ignoring him. But then again, Shadow noticed when he put Sonic back into bed that there were a few bruises around his neck that weren't there when he first brought him home. Was it possible that the other had lost the inability to speak?

Shadow shook his head, deciding to ignore the uncommon worried thoughts entering his head and stirred the soup that was on top of the stove. Tomato. He hated it, but it was the quickest thing to cook that would warm him up. When he poured it into his bowl, he noticed that he had made a little too much. He glanced back at the bedroom door before sighing a defeated sigh. A grabbed another bowl and poured the rest of the soup into, before grabbing a spoon and taking a bowl and the spoon into the bedroom.

Upon entering, Shadow's eyes widened before he rushed over to the bed, placing the soup stop of the set of drawers and calling the other hedgehog's name. No reply. He took the glove off of one of his hands and pressed the back of his hand against Sonic's forehead and frowned. Sonic was burning up pretty badly.

- - -

The first thing that came to mind as he slowly began to wake was that it felt as though someone was continuously hitting him on the head with a hammer. The second thing that came to mind was that his head didn't feel as much pressure on it as before. But it did feel like something was placed on his forehead. Something damp.

He slowly opened his good eye, expecting to see the bright light of the day. Instead, he noticed that it was dark outside, and that the room's only light source was coming from the small lamp on top of the drawers. He shifted his head to the side, only for it to be pushed back to where it was.

"Didn't I tell you not to move?" said a cold voice that Sonic instantly recognized as Shadow. That same hedgehog was sat on a chair next to the bed, an arm slung over the back of it. The azure hedgehog thought back to earlier that day when Shadow had in fact told him not to move about too much. But that was when he got out of bed. Moving his head was different, wasn't it?

Shadow watched as the wounded hedgehog gave a confused look. He was about to move again when Shadow said, "Stay _still_! If you move around too much then the cloth will fall off of your head!"

The realization then came to him that a damp cloth was placed where the bandages were wrapped around his head. But if there was a cloth on his head, then wouldn't that mean that Shadow would have to take the bandages off? He brought a hand up to his eye, tracing his fingers against the smooth surface until they reached what felt like small strings of elastic.

"It's a patch," the other replied, noticing Sonic's movements. "Since your eye still hasn't fully healed and probably won't for a long time there's some cloth behind it in case it bleeds." Shadow suddenly shifted his gaze to the side, trying to avoid any eye contact with the other. "And if that does happen, then you let me know straight away. I'll sort it out."

As Sonic lifted his gaze to look at Shadow, he noticed that the ebony hedgehog instantly shifted his. His ears twitched upon hearing the last sentence Shadow had said. He had to admit that he felt grateful towards the other for taking him in like this, but why hadn't Shadow kicked him out already?

How on earth could he say something as stupid as that? It wasn't him. He frowned, feeling his cheeks glow slightly from the embarrassment of talking that way. And if he started acting soft towards the other just because of his condition, once he recovers then he'll never get off of his back. Shadow suddenly remembered the soup he had made earlier and sighed, catching Sonic's attention. The other gave him a questioning look. "I made soup earlier. It's probably gone cold by now."

He even went through the trouble of making him food that he could have had for himself? Sonic felt as though he didn't deserve to be resting in Shadow's apartment. After all, it was his own fault he ended up like this...

"You can still talk right?" Shadow asked, trying to get rid of the feeling of stupidity from his mind. And besides, he needed to make sure that Sonic could still talk since he hadn't said a word since he woke up earlier that day.

He was brought back from his little dazed state by Shadow's calm, cool voice. He opened his mouth and managed to croak a quiet "Yes," giving a little nod.

Now that he knew that Sonic could still communicate using his voice, then maybe he could find out what actually happened in the alley. He needed some answers before it was too late. He leaned forward in his seat, clasping his hands together tightly. "Then would you care to tell me what happened to you?"

Sonic flinched and looked away. He knew that this would happen sooner or later. But he couldn't tell anyone. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone. If someone where to know, then a flaw would have been found in him, making him less of a hero. Already had he been caught with alcohol, and it was only his first drink. Ever! It took weeks for people to stop talking about it. And because this was far more serious than being caught drinking, even though he was and is underage, people would be talking about it for months.

Oh how he hated the fact that people would never stop talking about him. Sure, a hero is something for you to talk about. But then there were those that would talk bad about him, and then spread it until just about everyone knew. The press barely ever left him alone either. And if they were to find out about this then they would follow him day in and day out, even after they had managed to get some answers.

Shadow sat back on his chair, sighing heavily. "So, you don't want to tell me?" The other shook his head, still avoiding Shadow's gaze. "Then I'll just wait until you do. It's okay if you don't right now but...just talk. About anything. You're not usually the quiet type, faker."

Sonic gazed into Shadow's garnet eyes, suddenly finding himself clutching the sheets. "...Shadow," he said, quietly. "That soup...do you think I could have it?"

Shadow nodded. "I'll go warm it up for you," he replied, standing up and grabbing the bowl of cold soup before exiting the room. He placed the bowl in the microwave and warmed it up before going back into the room. He placed it on the drawers in order to sort Sonic's pillows out so that they put him in a sitting up position and getting rid of the cloth on his head. Then handed him the bowl. "Careful, it's hot."

Sonic picked up some soup on the spoon, blowing on it before drinking the tomato flavored soup. He felt a shiver run down his spine as the warm liquid slipped down his throat. He then turned to Shadow. "Didn't you make any for yourself?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.

"I did. But I can eat later."

Sonic frowned. "I don't need anyone to watch me eat, you know."

Shadow smirked. "Stop complaining. I brought you here and in your weakened state I can easily throw you back onto the street."

The azure hedgehog pouted before drinking some more of his soup. He felt warm and relaxed. After finishing the soup, he let out a small burp. "Thanks, Shadow." He looked around, a clueless expression on his features for a moment before the bowl was taken from his hands.

Shadow shook his head as the other began looking clueless and took the bowl from his hands. "I'll wash this out. You on the other hand should rest. You heated up earlier and collapsed from exhaustion. You don't want it happening again." In truth, it was Shadow who didn't want that to happen, but he would never openly admit it.

For the first time that day, Sonic smiled. It wasn't a fake smile he would normally put on his face in a situation like the one he was in now, oh no. It was a true smile. Just as Shadow was about to leave, he called out to him, causing the other to stop in his tracks. He hesitated a little before saying, "Shadow, how come...How come you haven't kicked me to already?"

He stopped his feet from moving right by the door, hearing Sonic call his name. He waited for him to say what he wanted to say and turned around once he did, a frown on his face. "Why would I?" he replied simply.

"I...I don't...know...It's just..."

Shadow sighed. "Listen here faker; you can stay here until you recover your strength. In the mean time just relax. Only once you are better will I kick you out."

Sonic relaxed a little, closing his eye as Shadow exited the room. At least he would have somewhere to stay while he recovered. Although he didn't know Shadow as well as his other friends, if you could actually call Shadow his friend, Sonic was glad it was him that found him. If it were someone like Tails or Amy then they would be constantly bugging him, asking if he was okay, or if he needed anything. Sure he loved them, but to be honest they could be a real pain in the backside at times. But then again, there's always something about your friends that you find to be annoying.

Shadow suddenly came back into the room, a cellphone in his hand. Sonic opened his eye, sleepily and cocked a brow. "I'm going out. If you need anything then just call the number in the phonebook. There's only one so at least you can't mess up and call some complete stranger," Shadow said, placing the cellphone on the drawers.

"See you later, Shadow," replied Sonic, closing his eye and falling asleep.

The striped hedgehog made a small 'hmph' before exiting the room. He walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his raincoat, putting it on himself. He then grabbed his keys and left, locking the door and dashing off into the dark streets.

- - -

**Whoot! Chapter complete! Review please!**


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm back! (insert sarcasm) yey. Glad so many people like this so far. I would've updated sooner but I've been playing Sonic 06'. Money's been tight so I only just got it. You ask me Solaris was too easy to defeat. Oh well.**

**Now I know that Shadow actually works for GUN but in this he doesn't cos if he did then it would basically ruin the entire plot. Oh well. Enjoy...**

- - -

**Chapter 2: Doctor On Call**

As soon as he stepped inside the building, he thought he was blind. The reason for that being that just about everything inside this building was white, even the people's clothing. To be honest, he felt a little out of place with his dark fur and pitch black raincoat, which was now soaking wet.

Before the receptionist even had time to ask if she could help, Shadow began moving swiftly down the corridor. He passed numerous amounts of rooms, some of them with people chatting happily away, some with people crying, and some with people who were moaning in pain. But his goal wasn't on visiting someone in one of the rooms, oh no. His goal was a certain person. It was quite ironic really how her fur matched the white...everything.

Moving up a flight of stairs, the sound of a familiar voice reached the black hedgehog's ears, causing them to twitch in order to pick up the exact whereabouts of the voice's owner. He walked into the second room on the left, stopping in the doorway as he instantly recognized the nurse who was currently in the room.

Rouge the Bat.

She could be quite the sneaky bat at times. She originally worked at GUN. Why she had decided to switch to being a nurse was far beyond Shadow's knowledge. Not to mention the fact that she purposely chose a uniform that was tight on her, just to show off her trim figure and large breasts.

She turned to the hedgehog stood in the doorway after tucking a patient in to bed, her red painted lips curved into a smirk. "My, my, my," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "It's not like Shadow to come visit me at work, now is it?" The ebony hedgehog bared his teeth threateningly. "Oh my! If you keep acting like that then you'll scare the patients!"

The ebony hedgehog was in no mood to deal with the cockiness of his former partner and clenched his fists at her last sentence, clearing seeing how false the emotion behind that sentence was. Nevertheless, he sighed before telling her the reason why he had come to this blinding hospital in the first place. "I need a favor to ask of you." He came straight to the point, not particularly wanting to stay in this building for much longer as a horrid smell began reaching his nose from another room.

Rouge stared at Shadow before a frown was placed upon her features. "A favor, 'ey? And just what might that be?" Luckily for Rouge, she was given the easier tasks to do this day, but that still didn't mean that she wouldn't be busy. And she certainly didn't have time for Shadow to just stand there probably planning her funeral.

The room was quite full of patients, and just any one of them could have some connection to the press. Explaining just why he needed Rouge's help inside of this room could be quite a problem. The last thing that the injured hedgehog back at his apartment needed was the press jumping all over him. Those people are crazy. They would wait in your closet until you're asleep before they jump out asking questions. Well, that was what Shadow overheard. But then again, it was one of Sonic's stupid kid friends that said, so it most likely wasn't true. "Isn't there another room to go in? It must be kept private."

Cocking an eyebrow, Rouge pushed past Shadow and ushered him to follow her. They walked down to the bottom of the corridor and opened the last door: the supply room. Since there was hardly anything in this room, then no one would come into the room while the two talked.

As Shadow walked into the room, Rouge slammed the door shut. "So then, what do you need? No wait! Let me guess. You got a girlfriend! And you need my help to make sure things run smoothly between the two of you. You know you didn't have to ask for us to come in here. The world doesn't care if you've got a girlfriend. I mean it _is_ your life."

The ebony hedgehog frowned at her. "I'm afraid you're incorrect," he stated, butting in Rouge's sentence. "The reason I asked to speak with you in private is because I need you to treat someone for me and it _must_ not get out into the public."

A smirk made its way onto her red lips. This sounded interesting. If this information couldn't be let out into the public, then something big must have happened. Something big and juicy. "Alright then. I'll see at your home at about...let's make it eight. At night. But right now I have to get back to work. I _do_ have a job you know. Unlike you."

Shadow bared his teeth. How did she know that he needed a job? Or maybe she was just playing around and saying that he's too lazy to get a job. Yeah, that must have been it.

In no time at all, Shadow was back at his apartment block. He sighed, climbing the stairs in no particular rush. At least now Sonic could be treated by a professional. But why did he care? What did it matter to him about that stupid faker! It wasn't like they were friends or anything. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Shadow entered his apartment, locking the door and hanging his wet coat up.

Glancing at the clock, Shadow saw that it was now **7:30pm**. That annoying bat should arrive in half an hour. As he walked into the hall, he noticed that the bathroom door was wide open. Shadow would normally shove it to. He would never leave it wide open like that; it just wasn't a nice sight for guest. Not that Shadow had many guests besides Rouge who only came to taunt him. So if he didn't do it then a certain someone did.

When he walked over to shove it to, he noticed the azure hedgehog staring at himself in the mirror. He couldn't help but flinch when he saw the horrid mess that was once Sonic's eye. It seemed as though the other wanted to take a look at the damage himself. He quickly regained his composer before letting the other know he was there by clearing his throat.

Upon hearing a sound behind him, Sonic spun around and saw Shadow stood in the doorway. He stared at the striped hedgehog, a shocked expression clear on his face. "Sh—Shadow!" What else could he say? It was a pretty awkward moment. What _could_ he say? A sudden realization struck him and he quickly put the eye patch back on.

Shadow realized how awkward this must have felt for the youth. He folded his arms and said, "What are you doing out of bed?" He didn't give Sonic permission to get up and wonder the house. He could have gone through all of his personal belongings for all he knew.

A cocky grin appeared on the blue hedgehog's face for the first time in a while. "Why? Am I supposed to be bedridden?" he asked, copying Shadow by folding his arms. "I didn't know that you cared."

The black hedgehog scowled at Sonic. It looked like the other's cocky attitude had returned. But now wasn't the time for playing games. "Can it, hedgehog. Just get back into bed before the nurse arrives."

Sonic's ears pricked. "A nurse? What kind of nurse?"

How stupid could this hedgehog really be? What other types of nurses are there besides ones that treat people? "It's just a friend of mine who's a nurse. I asked her to come and take a look at your wounds. Now for the last time, _get back into bed!_ Or else I'll get her to shove a thermometer where the sun doesn't shine!"

Sonic couldn't argue there. He most defiantly did not want a thermometer in his private place. Tails once had to and he was in a state of shock for weeks afterwards. Chuckling at the memory, Sonic limped out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. He flopped down on the bed and pulled the covers over himself. He didn't know why, but Sonic got the sudden feeling that he was going to like staying with Shadow for a while.

- - -

The sound of someone knocking on the door tore Shadow away from reading a rather interesting book about law. He heaved a sigh, placing the book down on the table and heading to the door. He only opened it a little before the snow white bat barged in.

"I want coffee and a towel. Do you know how wet it is out there?" she said, taking off her jacket and throwing it on the couch, much to Shadow's displeasure. She was still in her uniform and was carrying bag that was most likely to be full of medical equipment. "Right, where's the patient?"

Shadow picked up the jacket and hung it up on a spare coat hanger. His couch was probably drenched by now and that annoyed him. Through gritted teeth he replied, "In the bedroom."

Rouge shrugged, completely oblivious as to why Shadow sounded angry all of a sudden. He was too grumpy. Maybe if he got more of a social life he would cheer up. Putting the thought in the 'things to do later' pile, Rouge exited the living room and walked over to where the bedroom was. She blinked upon seeing who her patient actually was. "Sonic the Hedgehog, just what the hell happened to you."

Sonic looked up as he heard someone enter the room and frowned when he saw who it was. But why was she in a nurse's uniform? Then he remembered back to when Shadow said that a friend of his was coming to see him. "Hi Rouge, Shadow said that someone was coming to check up on me, but I didn't think it would be you," he said, smirking. "And what's with this nurse getup?"

The bat huffed. "I'll have you know that I'm a specially trained nurse. Shadow didn't say it was you who I needed to see." She moved over and sat down on the edge of the bed close to Sonic who was using the pillows to prop him up again. Rouge brought a finger and gently traced the eye patch. "What happened?" she asked, now feeling concerned.

The hedgehog flinched under her touch and averted his eye, not wanting to make eye contact. "It was...It was just a little fight." Of course that wasn't true. A _little_ fight would have ended in just a few scrapes. But Sonic's injuries were not the result of a little fight.

"A _little_ fight!? Sonic, something worse than a little fight happened to put you in this sort of state!" The nurse managed to calm herself down, remembering her nurse training. A nurse was supposed to remain calm and not get frustrated, especially at the patient. "If you don't want to talk about it then at least don't tell lies about it."

He knew she was right, but he didn't want others to worry about him. It pained him to do that. But then again, going on really dangerous adventures that could cost him his life didn't really keep them from not worrying about him. But just recently, he hadn't been gaining as much fun out of things such as defeating Eggman. Since the round-bellied man just about always attack, it seemed like a simple chore that was no fun. And whenever something happened such as a fire, everyone would always turn to Sonic for help. If you asked him then it should really have been the firemen that did all the work. That was what they were trained to do. But then again most of them were probably too busy combing their mustaches. (No offence intended for anyone who has or is thinking a having a mustache! It's just that a lot of fire men have mustaches as that's the only facial hair they're allowed to grow.)

"Do you mind if I take a look?"

Sonic snapped out of his train of thoughts upon hearing the other speak. He gave a soft nod, averting his gaze as she reached around his head and pulled the elastic off over is head. He knew it was bad. The whole reason he was in the bathroom earlier was to inspect his wounds himself. He was lucky that the other eye left with a round, black ring around it.

"Have you seen it yourself?" Rouge asked, looking at the horrid, mangled mess that once was a glistering emerald eye. She saw the hedgehog give another soft nod, still avoiding eye contact with her. She frowned, thinking what would be the best thing to do about it. She sighed, rummaging through her bag. "Does it hurt?"

"A little." Lie. In fact, it hurt a lot. Especially whenever he moved his good eye, as the other naturally follows and caused him a lot of pain.

"All I can do for now is give you a few painkillers. We may have to bring you into the hospital to get the eye removed. It really isn't any use lying, Blue Boy. I can tell that it hurts more than 'a little'." It was like a sixth sense. She knew when others were lying easily, and Sonic was no exception. She gently placed the eye patch back over his eye while asking, "Do your friends know?"

Sonic shook his head, drinking a small bit of oddly colored liquid that she just made. "They don't. You won't tell Knuckles will you?"

"Don't you worry, I won't tell him. He'll be too busy 'guarding' the Master Emerald. Not like he does a very good job of it, though."

That's right; I forgot to mention this when Rouge first appeared into my tale. After dating for several months, Knuckles asked Rouge for her hand in holy matrimony and now she is his fiancé and currently three months pregnant. When everyone learnt of their relationship some were shocked that they actually admitting in liking each other, some just rolled their eyes as they knew it was going to happen, whereas there were some who were jumping for joy as they had just won $50 for betting that they would admit their true feelings. Sonic was the latter of the three.

But back to my tale, after having several pills forced down his throat, Rouge was now checking his arm, taking off the bandages. She carefully inspected it. "This would be better off in a sling," she mumbled more to herself than Sonic. "But wrapped up will just have to do for now." She then wrapped new bandages around his arm. "The cuts on your stomach don't really look that bad. They're healing. That's a good sign. How are the legs; let me see," she instructed.

Sonic did as told and pulled the covers off of him, revealing his legs. The bruises didn't look as bad as before, but they were still slightly green, but fading. They were quite bad. Sonic began wondering if they left any permanent damage. What if he was never allowed to run again? Oh please don't let it be so!

"I know just the thing for this!" Rouge said, routing around in her bag again and pulling out a bottle with slimy liquid inside. "It's a new formula just recently discovered especially for those of our kind. It's supposed to help the bruises to fade quicker." She paused as she squeezed the liquid onto her gloved hand. "It will cold, so brace yourself."

He flinched slightly as the cold liquid touched his bruised skin, sending shivers up his spine, causing him to be even colder than he was with the covers off of him. After a minute or so, Rouge was done. She placed the bottle back in her bag, zipping it up and made a relieving sigh.

"Well, that's just about all I can do here," she explained, pulling the covers back over the blue hedgehog. "You may want to cover your ears. I mean you don't want to get death now, do you?" Sonic seemed confused. What was this bat talking about? He soon understood what she meant though and covered his ears as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "SHADOW! WHERE THE HELL IS MY COFFEE AND TOWEL!"

"IT'S BEEN WAITING FOR YOU OUT HERE FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTE!" came an angry reply form beyond the door.

"Well you could have notified me! Really, the nerve of that guy. It's no wonder most people try to stay away from him." Letting out a sigh, the snowy bat stood from the bed and smiled. "Well, it was nice seeing you again. I'll tell the doctors about your eye and see what they think. As soon as they decide on what's gonna happen then you'll be the second to know."

Sonic cocked an eyebrow. "Second?"

"Well of course. Because I'll be the first to know. Well, ciao!"

Sonic shuffled down in the bed, trying to get himself in a comfortable position. But despite the more he shuffled, he just couldn't get comfortable. Pouting, he rolled over on his side, grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it close to him so that the front part of his body would have something comfortable against it.

His eyes glazed over as he began thinking of how much he hated himself for not stopping something that he could have easily stopped, meaning that he wouldn't be in this position right now. No, he wasn't the perfect hero that everyone thought him to be. And because of this, he hated himself.

Meanwhile, Rouge just entered the kitchen, taking a sip of her coffee and spitting it our, complaining that it was too cold before pouring it down the sink. She grabbed the towel and stuffed it into her bag. "What do you think you're doing?" She looked up to see Shadow, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Well," she began. "I'll need to dry off when I reach home. Don't you worry your ugly little head off, I'll bring it back next time I see you."

Shadow bared his teeth. "I suppose you'll be leaving now?" He really didn't want her to stay much longer. He didn't feel like having company at the moment, and already had to put up with Sonic, even though the other hedgehog hadn't been much of a bother since he was in bed recovering from whatever happened to him.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." She stopped on her way to the door and turned to Shadow, a look of concern on her face. "Did Sonic tell you what happened to him?" Shadow shook his head. "Well he has to tell someone. I mean, there is a possibility that retelling the events could trigger a breakdown, but if he were to keep it looked up then the pressure would probably be too much for him to handle. I'm just concerned about his mental health is all." There was a brief silence between the two before Rouge turned around again and left the apartment, shutting the door behind her.

Shadow went over to lock it then sat down on a dry part of his couch. She had quite a good point. And he had enough trouble dealing with the physically wounded hedgehog. He _really_ didn't want to deal with an emotionally distressed hedgehog too. But he would have to spill the beans eventually. Keeping it locked away wasn't good for his health.

Finding that even the part he was sitting on was slightly damp, Shadow stood and headed over to the window where he had been the morning before he went out and discovered Sonic. His attention immediately focused on someone stood outside. It was the same kid from the corner shop. And he was staring directly at the hedgehog. Shadow could just see the glint of a knife in the boy's hand. (My friend actually did that to someone once so that her friend who lived upstairs from the guy could study...)

A slight moan from the bedroom distracted Shadow for a moment, and when he turned to look back out of the window, the boy was gone. He silently cursed himself for being distracted so easily. He moved into the bedroom, being careful not to disturb the now sleeping Sonic in the bed, and looking through the wardrobe for a few spare sheets that he usually kept in there. He couldn't sleep on a wet couch, and he couldn't wait for it to dry. So he had to cover it instead.

"Shadow..."

Said hedgehog turned. Sonic was still sleeping. Was he dreaming about him? That was just plain creepy. But then again, he had been seeing a lot of him lately. Putting that thought aside, Shadow walked back into the living room and set the couch into a mini bed. He sat down and grabbed the remote, switching the television for the first time in a while. He briefly flicked through the channels until he reached one showing the news. The reporter was going on about the recent increase in anthros (anthropomorphics) dieing. A large variety of them had been found beaten to death, drowned or had their limbs ripped off and placed in odd areas like an arm on one of the hands on a clock.

Shadow's brow furrowed. Could that have been what happened to Sonic? No, the sped demon wouldn't let his guard down enough for someone to nearly beat him to death. Or would he? Shadow's brain racked with questions about these sudden murders. Then the boy with the knife came to mind. Could he be behind it? And if he was, why was he doing it?

He let out a disgruntled sigh, sitting back on the couch as a migraine struck him. His head ached too much for him to think right now. Perhaps some sleep would do him good. He'd just have to think about this when he wakes up the next morning.


	4. Chapter 3

- - -

**Chapter 3: Jobs & Hospitals**

He silently cursed himself for waking up this late. Outside it still seemed dark due to all of the bad weather that had recently been accruing. And one would think that it was either late at night or early morning. But when Shadow stopped to stare at the clock he realized that it was for gone dinner. He had intended on waking up early so that he could go out and not have to come back for quite some time if he didn't find what he was looking for.

What was he looking for? A job. As much as Shadow hated to admit it, the only way he could get any money was to get a job. GUN was an option, as Rouge had mentioned that since she had left they were looking for new recruits. But Shadow really hated the thought that he would have to work with humans. So Shadow settled on trying to find a quieter one where there weren't that many humans.

He stopped upon noticing a 'Help Wanted' sign in the window of a local café. Cafés weren't usually that busy weren't they? This place could be a possibility. He would have gone off to see if there were any more jobs available if he hadn't done so already, only to find that there were none.

Sighing in frustration, Shadow entered the shop. It was small with only a few tables here and there. At the back of the room was a small counter with a door behind it. The hedgehog casually walked over to the counter and rang the small bell on the counter.

Almost immediately, a hedgehog a little shorter than Shadow rushed through the door and in front of the counter. Her fur was a snowy color that slightly resembled Rouge's. Her quills faded pink at the tips and were combed over one of her shoulder. She wore a pink dress, a pair of white gloves and lilac shoes. The girl smiled sweetly at Shadow. "Hello there, sir. May I help you?"

Shadow grimaced at her cheerfulness. She reminded him a little of the annoying pink thing that would always jump on Sonic and distracted everyone during battles. "I saw the sign in the window," he spoke, trying to sound polite and patient despite the fact that he was soaked with rain which annoyed greatly. "I was wondering if the place was still available."

The female hedgehog's smile widened. "Ah, yes, of course! I'll just get my Grandpa," she said before disappearing through the door again. She reappeared with an old looking hedgehog with gray fur and a beard, if hedgehogs could even grow beards. "This nice man wants to work here. What do you think grandpa?"

Shadow was slightly taken aback. The girl, her tone of voice was the same that Maria used to use when she was talking with Gerald. She even clung to her grandpa like Maria did when she wanted something. He quickly reclaimed his composure as the old hedgehog, who was about twice the size as Shadow, stepped in front of him and looked him over.

"Hm...You look like a hard working hedgehog. Perhaps this is room for you," the old one muttered. He then snapped his fingers. "How about this: you work here for one week, paid by the way, and if I think you're up for the job then you've got it!"

Shadow nodded. "Sounds reasonable. When should I begin work?" he questioned.

"Come back tomorrow at **7am**. Belle well teach you until you catch the ropes." The hedgehog stopped as he noticed slight confusion on the other's face. "Oh, excuse me. Belle is my granddaughter. As for me, you may call me Gord. And may I ask for your name?"

"My name is Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Well then welcome, Shadow. Now don't you forget to turn up tomorrow. Now hurry on and get yourself home before you catch a cold. You must be soaked to the bone."

Shadow gave a slight nod before leaving the café and dashing at full speed to get back to his apartment. Well at least he would get some money to pay that goddamn landlord before he throws another fit. Upon entering his home, Shadow noticed that the red light on his phone was lit up. He walked over to it and pressed a button next to it. He heard a dial tone before the familiar voice of a certain bat.

"_Shadow! Just where the hell are you?! This is important! I told the guys at hospital about Sonic's eye and they said it needed immediate treatment! Call me back when you get this message and I'll send an ambulance over. Despite your speed it's far too dangerous to make Sonic go outside in this weather. I've got to go, another nurse wants me. Call back as soon as you get this!"_

Shadow frowned before picking up the phone and dialing Rouge's number. Before Shadow even got to speak Rouge's said 'thanks' and hung up. That probably meant that she knew he had gotten her message and was sending an ambulance round.

He turned and entered the bedroom. He found Sonic lying on his back, staring out of the rain covered window. His gaze shifted to Shadow as he heard the other enter the room and said a simple 'hey' before turning back to the window again. Shadow inched a little closer. "Rouge has called for an ambulance. I'm guessing their going to remove your eye so it won't cause any distress," he stated.

Sonic merely nodded. It made his stomach drop when he thought about only having one eye. It was a great disadvantage if an enemy suddenly attacked. And not to mention the fact that he would have to go around wearing a patch over his eye for the rest of his life. Someone up there must really hate him at the moment.

Shadow walked over to the window, trying to see outside as the sound of a siren reached his ears. He squinted, trying to make out everything outside. Indeed there was an ambulance. He turned back to Sonic. "Time to go."

- - -

In one way, it was quite amusing. Yet in another, it was annoying. But it was so rare to see the dark hedgehog acting so nervous. She had known him for a long time, yet he had never acted like this before. Who knew that just one simple thing could make him act so worriedly.

She sighed as the hedgehog yet again paced passed her. That's all he had done since arriving. Surely he couldn't be _that _worried. "You know, I think that this little act of yours should be put in the world record book," sniggered the bat as Shadow passed yet again.

The hedgehog stopped pacing and frowned at Rouge before continuing his pacing, his hands clasped behind his back. "I find your humor inappropriate," Shadow spat back.

Rouge leaned forward in her seat outside of the hospital room Sonic was in. "All I'm saying is that you should sit down and be calm. I never thought that you would get riled up over _Sonic_."

Stopping yet again, Shadow clenched his teeth. "I'm not! And I'm not worried!" He then took his hands away and folded his arms across his chest. "If you must know, I'm thinking. We need to find out who could have done this? And more importantly why."

"You see, you are worried about Sonic. Otherwise you wouldn't be thinking that." Rouge smirked, knowing that she was annoying her former co-worker. She then stood up. "How about I get you something to drink to calm you down? What would you like?"

"Anything's fine." He really wasn't interested in drinking anything, but he couldn't turn down her offer. He heaved a sigh and sat down. He knew that the other was right. He _was_ worried. And no matter how much he tried he couldn't push this emotion aside. Ever since he had found the other hedgehog in that alley there was something burning inside of him. And although he would never openly admit it, Shadow had been worried since he saw his lifeless looking body battered and bruised and on the brink of death.

Rouge walked down the corridor, a drink in each hand. She had decided to give her hedgehog pal a moment or two to get his head straight by getting those drinks. She was happy to see that Shadow had taken her advice and sat down when she returned. Giving him one of the drinks she sat down besides him.

He didn't realize that the other had returned until the drink was offered to him. "Thanks," he muttered, taking the drink and drinking a small amount. He looked down at it and noticed that she had brought him a small cup of hot chocolate. Not his favorite of drinks, but it would do.

"Come to any conclusion yet?" Rouge asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. She felt awkward in the silence. And she was certain that Shadow wouldn't be the one who would start up a conversation. So she took matters into her own hands. Plus she was curious if the dark hedgehog had thought of anything that could help them find out what happened to Sonic.

Lowering the drink, Shadow sighed. "Not yet," he replied. "But let us hope that he will tell us soon. Like you told me when you came to check on him, it's bad for his health to keep it locked away." Shadow inwardly cursed himself for accepting the drink, as he had not eaten a great lot that day and so the drink went right through him.

Rouge nodded. "But letting it out when he's not ready could also be bad for him."

"So basically we're at a blank." The male leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on something other than the growing desire to go to the restroom.

A small smirk appeared on the bat's face. "Unless we make him tell us without him knowing." She snapped her fingers. Why hadn't she thought of this before? She had seen it been done before, so it should work with Sonic, shouldn't it?

Shadow raised an eyebrow, unaware of what his former co-worker was speaking of. "And how do you propose we do that?" In the short time he had been awake, Sonic barely spoke as it was. And he knew that the other was sharp enough to be able to detect if they were trying to trick him into explaining what had happened to him.

Rouge's smirk widened as she stared at the other. "Hypnotism." Short and sweet. Since psychiatrists sometimes used hypnotism on their more disturbed patients to get them to talk about things that they would normally not, then surely they could get Sonic to spill the truth.

A small scoff. "Do you really think something as stupid as that really works? It's all for show." Urge to rush to the bathroom steadily increasing.

"And how do you know that? Shrinks use it on their patients all the time to try and find things out what their patient isn't telling them. That's exactly what's happening in our case." Rouge snapped her fingers in front of Shadow who was looking in a different direction, obviously not interested in what she had to say. "_I'm_ the nurse here, not you."

Shadow swatted the hand away. "I still think your theory is erroneous." Urge to rush to the bathroom still steadily increasing.

"Stop using big words. Who do you think you are? Fox boy?" She instantly calmed down upon realizing something. "Do you think we should alert his friends? I mean, they haven't seen him for over a week. Surely they must be getting worried."

"As long as that idiot echidna won't be here. Or that pink annoyance. They're both too loud. And the chao's annoying too." Urge to go to the toilet: 7/10.

"That doesn't leave much of an option. Though in his current state of mind too many people could be a problem, so I can see where you're going. Perhaps we'll leave it a little longer before we tell them. And after all, that stubborn idiot hates others worrying about him."

Full bladder pressure! Shadow stood up and excused himself straight after Rouge had finished speaking and ran down the corridor, trying to find the restroom. He turned a corner and eventually found it, dashing in and going to the nearest urinal that was adjusted for their kind, pulling away his gloves as to not get them dirty. He sighed as he relieved himself, pleased that there was no longer any pressure anymore. He washed his hands before placing his gloves back on.

He made his way back over to the hospital room slower than when he ran to the restroom. When he did reached the room her found an impatient Rouge with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. He raised an eyebrow, questioning what she was upset about.

She drummed her fingers lightly on her arm as the hedgehog approached her. How dare he just run off like that! But then again, Shadow wasn't the type to talk about feeling or emotions or whatever you call it what they were talking about. "Took you long enough," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "While you were off doing God knows what, the doctors came out. They said that they'd done the job well done. You can go in to see him."

"Aren't you going?" Shadow asked, puzzled. Why was she angry at him for just going to the restroom? The information that she was telling him could have just waited, she didn't need to get upset about it.

"No. I was just told that little squirrel, only about five, was just brought in after being brutally beaten and they need my help. Give my regards to Sonic when he wakes up. He should still be asleep." Rouge gave a small wave before power walking down the corridor.

Shadow stared where she left for a moment before turning to the door. Slowly, he grabbed the handle, pushed it down and walked in. The first thing he saw was a bandaged up, blue hedgehog unconscious in a bed with white sheets. The dark hedgehog shut the door behind, walking over next to Sonic's bed, noticing an oxygen mask over the hedgehog's muzzle and nose. Near to him was a heart monitor that was constantly beeping every so often.

As he sat down in a seat that was placed next to the bed, Shadow noticed that some of Sonic's wounds had been redressed. The question appeared in his mind yet again as to why he was even watching over the hedgehog. Couldn't someone else do it? But if he were to walk away, Rouge would probably come lecturing him about how he shouldn't have left the faker and something about since he was their when Sonic woke up then he may not feel comfortable around anyone else.

He stared out of the window, noticing that the rain seemed to look heavier than it had. Almost as heavy as the other day when this whole mess started. His eyes averted back to the other hedgehog when he heard a quiet grunt. He was frowning in his sleep. He noticed that the doctors had wrapped bandages around his head that extended over his eye, just as Shadow had done when e first dressed his wounds.

His mind drifted back to when Rouge and he were outside of the room, thinking about how they could get Sonic to tell what happened to him. He didn't really believe in hypnosis, but when he saw it on television sometimes the people being hypnotized would enter a state of distress. As if the blue hedgehog wasn't distressed enough.

And then there was that squirrel Rouge had spoke of before she left. Could it be another victim of those who were killing off their kind? If they were to blame for that child squirrel, and for Sonic, then what did they want? Perhaps they were just psychotic maniacs that were hell-bent on killing out all anthros. But whoever they were, they would surely pay for their actions. Beating a world hero was one thing, but beating a child was far worse. At least Sonic had some sort of chance to defend himself, which it looked like he obviously didn't, but a five year old would have no chance at all.

A groan came from the bed as Sonic stirred. His good eye opened just a crack before closing, the blinding light in the room giving him an instant headache. He tried again, determined to keep his eye open. His gaze shifted around the room before coming to the conclusion that he was in a hospital room. Wh was he in a hospital again? Oh yeah, his eye. They'd knocked him out on the way there so he found it difficult to remember how he had even got there.

His remaining emerald eye locked onto a dark figure close by. It sat on a chair, staring out of the window. If he remembered correctly, it had been raining an awful lot recently, so there wasn't much point on looking outside as nothing interesting would happen. Squinting, he saw just who this figure was. "...Shadow..."

A few seconds after turning his gaze back outside of the window, Shadow heard a faint whisper come from close by. He immediately looked at the cerulean hedgehog to see him staring up at him, a tired expression on his face. "You should be asleep," the dark hedgehog stated.

"I don't feel like it," Sonic replied in a whisper, his voice quieter due to the mask over his face. He raised a hand up and attempted to pull it off, only to find that his arm felt too heavy and fell against his chest. Shadow noticed his struggling and took the mask away from him, but kept it close in case he needed it again.

Shadow leant back in his seat and smirked. "You know, hedgehog, until about a week ago I thought that you were invincible."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at Shadow's remark. "Impressed?" he managed to whisper.

The other shrugged. "Not really."

There was a brief silence between the two, and Sonic took this time to try and reposition himself so that he felt more comfortable. But despite his attempts, he felt far more uncomfortable once he repositioned himself than when he first started.

Shadow watched as the wounded hedgehog tried to move himself into a comfortable position, only to fail miserably. When he noticed Sonic had finally settled down he spoke. "Faker." Sonic looked up at him upon hearing his nickname. "You still haven't told me yet, have you not?"

The youth looked puzzled for a moment before his eye widened in realization, and he turned his gaze away from Shadow. He didn't want to tell him how this all started. He hated the truth about it, but he knew that he couldn't hide it forever. Would he tell him or not?

Noticing that Sonic wasn't going to say anything more, Shadow spoke on. "It's no use if you want to hide it. Rouge has already come up with the idea of hypnotism to try and force it out of you."

"Shut UP! I wouldn't even be in this mess if those stupid humans hadn't have started to attack me! Hitting me with pipes and baseball bats! Ripping my quills out! And jamming that pipe into my eye! It's not my fault that the first blow was so hard that I lost my coordination! So SHUT UP! I'M NOT GOING TO TELL!" Sonic's eyes widened and quickly clasped both hands over his mouth. He's just revealed everything. _Everything!_

Shadow didn't know how to react to the other's sudden outburst. He was shocked at the other's tale yet amused that he was so stupid to blurt it out without realizing until he had already said it. For once his features softened. So he too had been betrayed by the humans. It must have felt almost as bad as losing Maria, as all Sonic ever did was save the humans.

A wave of stupidity washed over him and he rolled over so that his back was facing Shadow. "Why don't you just go away already. Why are you even here?" his voice sounded shaky, as though he was on the brink of a breakdown. "...Just...Just go away...I want to be alone..."

Shadow nodded and stood, walking over to the door. He took one last glimpse at Sonic before exiting the room. As he closed the door once he was in the corridor, he saw Rouge running over to him. She looked tired and exhausted. "Well, is he okay?" she asked, placing her hands on her knees for support while taking deep breaths.

"There's no need for the hypnosis. He explained everything without realizing it before he had already done so," Shadow informed her. "He seems...distressed. He just asked me to leave."

Rouge's ears folded. "He must be upset about it. Perhaps retelling what happened to him made him remember things he would rather forget. I'll try talking to him. You go get yourself something to eat."

Shadow frowned at her for ordering him about, but did as he was told. After all, he hadn't eaten much that day and was quite hungry.

Rouge made sure that the other hedgehog was gone before knocking lightly on Sonic's door. "Sonic, honey? It's Rouge. Is it alright if I come in?" she asked, her voice soft and caring. The only reply she got was the shuffling of bed covers. She took that as a yes and walked in, closing the door behind her with a soft click. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the side, Sonic's back facing her. "Shadow tells me that you told him what happened to you."

His breathing was shaky, and he could feel himself shaking lightly under the covers. "I could have easily stopped them...But I didn't," he whispered, his voice also shaky.

The bat's ears were still folded. She tilted her head to one side with a questioning look on her face. "You mean the ones who did this to you?"

"I could have...and should have...but I didn't. I was...a coward...They looked the same age as me. I couldn't hurt kids. I'm so STUPID!"

Rouge flinched as Sonic's voice increased in volume. "Everyone makes mistakes in their life," she stated. "I sometimes wonder if it was a mistake to quit GUN and become a nurse. But whenever I think that, I try to think of the positives."

Now seeming interested, Sonic rolled over so that he was facing the nurse. "Positives? Like what?"

"Well, I get to meet lots of new people, and help save lives every day. And this job still pays good. I mean I work just about every day here, back at GUN I only worked when I got an assignment. And it's nice knowing that someone's going to get money to provide things for this little guy." She placed a hand on her slightly round stomach. "Because I know the Knuckles isn't going to make anything just sitting in front of that giant old rock all day. Sometimes I think he cares about it more than me."

Sonic chuckled, then his expression went back to being upset. "But...what about my case? Are there any positives for me?"

Rouge folded her arms and thought for a moment. "Well, let's see...I know. After reporting about your injury I secretly appointed Shadow as your caregiver. That means he has to take care of you until you're better. You can boss him around as much as you want. But don't push him too far or else he'll bring a gun out on you like he did that time I fell ill.

"And another thing about when you're ill or injured. Your friends bring you 'get well' gifts. And not to mention that you can relax whereas poor little me has to run around the hospital all day seeing to patients." She turned to look at the hedgehog in the eye. "Keep those in mind and you'll be feeling better in no time."

Sonic nodded. "Thank you. Knux sure is lucky to have someone like you as a mate."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he. Too bad he's always busy with that goddamn, stupid, oversized, bright...beautiful...gorgeous...emerald." A smirk appeared on her face. "I know what I'm doing when I get home."

Sonic let out a small laugh and relaxed in the bed. He then looked back at the nurse. "When do I get to leave, anyway?"

"Most likely tomorrow. But we can't let you go until Shadow says it's okay." A small beeping sound caught her attention. She took out a small device from her pocket and sighed. "Sorry, I've got to go. Emergency. I'll pass Shadow on the way to let him know that you're feeling better, okay?" Sonic nodded and faced the other wall, letting his eyelid slip shut. Rouge smiled, saying a quiet 'goodnight' before getting up and leaving the room.

She made a quick dash down the corridor, making sure that she passed the cafeteria on the way to the room she was called to. She found Shadow sat at a table in the corner next to a window. Making her way through quickly, she prodded Shadow to catch his attention and told him that it should be okay to see his look-alike now before rushing off. It had seemed that the squirrel from earlier was having some sort of fits and crying for the 'demons' to leave.

Shadow was a little annoyed of being prodded to catch his attention, but quickly finished off the rest of his sandwich and left. When he reached Sonic's room, he knocked lightly before entering. He saw that the other hedgehog was in a deep slumber, the oxygen mask back over his face. Either Rouge had done it, or he had done it himself.

He sat down in the same seat as before and sighed. From what Sonic had blurted out earlier, he knew that the hedgehog was ambushed by a group of teenagers with a hit so hard that he couldn't react straight away. The teenagers must have taken this chance to start beating him, hoping to kill him. Humans were stupid and pathetic in Shadow's eyes. They take what they have for granted and wouldn't realize it until it was too late. Plus there were those who were jealous of the abilities that their kind possessed.

He briefly glanced at the clock hanging above the door, noticing for the first time how late it was. He needed to get home so that he would be well rested for his first day at work tomorrow. He didn't want to give a bad impression by slacking off all day. He really needed this job, how else would he shut that landlord up once and for all?

Sonic shifted a little, rolling over so that he was facing Shadow, letting out a sharp gasp before settling back down. He opened his remaining eye the slightest bit. He wasn't sure at first where he was, but then when he saw Shadow sat in a chair close by, staring out of the window, he remembered. The hospital. "Can I go home yet?" he mumbled, not sure if Shadow heard him.

The other hedgehog turned to his look-alike, noticing how extremely tired he looked. He remembered Rouge telling him earlier that Sonic was allowed out tomorrow but only when he gives the word. He shook his head at the other. "Not until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe evening depending on how long I'll be."

He shifted a little, trying to get in a position where his bruised leg would irritate him whilst waiting for a reply from the other. When he did reply, he in turn frowned. "Going somewhere?"

"Just to work. The old man never said what time my shift ended so I may be a while." Shadow just hoped that it wasn't an all-nighter job, not because he wanted to take Sonic back to his apartment, but because didn't want to have to work for hours on end each day. He blinked, remembering his train of thoughts from just a few minutes ago. "I need to get ready for tomorrow. You'll be okay, right?" Why did he even care?

It surprised Sonic to hear that the other actually had a job. Shadow didn't seem like the working type. In the past he had seen him as the type that just moped in the corner of the room all day. He lightly nodded his head to answer Shadow's question. He didn't really understand why the other was being so kind to him all of a sudden. The fact that he was injured may help. Yeah, that was it. Once he is better then Shadow would most likely kick him out of the apartment.

Sonic snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the soft click from the door. He glanced around, noticing that Shadow was no longer in the room. _'Well goodbye then,'_ he muttered to himself, grabbing the covers and pulling them closer for more warmth when a sudden chill ran down his spine, making his quills stand on end.

He had decided to leave without a word. The blue hedgehog looked as though he needed more sleep anyway. He bared his teeth at the heavy rain once he emerged from the hospital. When would this forsaken rain end? Shadow was thankful that he lived high up in an apartment as the roads were now filling up with water due to blocked drains that were probably sick of taking in all of this rain.

His suddenly felt a chill run up his spine, getting the sudden feeling that he was being watched. He tried to push the thought aside and began walking home when he abruptly stopped and turned around, a scowl placed upon his features. Stalking him was the same boy that he had encountered in the shop a while ago and who was stood outside of the apartment block with a knife in his hand.

The blonde boy had a deranged grin on his face and a mad glint in his eye. He pulled his hand away from behind his back, revealing a large axe in his hand. "It's good to see you again."

- - -

**Yeah, I updated. Please review, it's nice to see that so many people like this story.**


	5. Chapter 4

**I updated...wow...anyway, did any of you guys see the eurovision on Saturday? If you didn't then check out Armenia and Norway. Norway won and the guy has nearly the exact same name as me except I'm a girl and he's a boy.**

- - -

**Chapter 4: The Secret Shrine**

Shadow bared his teeth, his quills becoming sharp in a defensive manor. He took a quick glance at the fairly large axe in the boy's hand, noticing that blood was dripping off of it onto the floor, mingling with the slowly rising water. Looking back at the boy's face, he noticed patches of blood that most definitely did not belong to him. "Come to make me a victim?"

The teen's maniacal grin grew wider. He licked his lips, the lust for killing this hedgehog rapidly growing by the minute. "I don't know what you're talking about?" he asked, although he was meant to sound innocent it didn't show.

Anger burned inside of him at the human's words. "I know what you've been doing," he said, matter-of-factly. "You've been running all around of town, grabbing any anthropomorphic you can find and beating them to death." His eyes narrowed. "No...You beat them until they're on the brink of death," Shadow brought his hand up and opened it, letting the rain fall on his gloved palm, "then you let the cold weather decide whether they should live or die, so technically, you're not the one that actually kills them."

He did nothing but laugh crazily. This hedgehog was pretty smart. Smarter than the other 'rats' he had beaten. Even Sonic the Hedgehog was no match for him. If this black and red streaked hedgehog could detect him, unlike any of the others, then he must be pretty smart. "You caught me. But what are _you_ going to do about it? Call the police? Oh, I'm _shaking_!" Another crazy laugh followed. Still laughing, he began running towards Shadow, racing the axe above his head.

Shadow watched the other, the anger inside of him feeling as though he would burn to death if it didn't disperse soon. Before the boy brought he axe down on him, he muttered, "Chaos Control," before disappearing, the boy's axe sticking into the ground. He soon reappeared where the teen stood moments before. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to wipe _me_ from existence."

The blonde growled, yanking the axe from out of the ground. "Shit," he cursed. He then sluggishly turned his body so that he could face the dark hedgehog. "Who...Who the hell are you? Wait..." The crazed grin returned. "You're Shadow the Hedgehog, aren't you? Yeah, it is you. The one that went crazy and tried to kill us humans. And also the one who brought those crazy aliens here."

The hedgehog clenched his teeth and fists, staring at the ground. "That's all behind me!" he snapped. "Everything that happened before no longer means anything."

He leaned the handle of the axe on his shoulder, placing his free hand on his hip. "Are you sure? How do I know that you're not going to try and kill us all again? Another reason for me to kill you."

"Why do you insist on having us killed?" He calmed himself slightly, but still kept his quills sharp in case of a sudden attack.

"Because little 'rats' like you don't belong in our world! This is a world created to be dominated by humans, and humans alone. But when your kind came along, it messed everything up. Humans are supposed to have the most power, not some pipsqueak little RAT!" He let out an angered cry as he once again ran towards the hedgehog with the axe above his head. And again, Shadow used Chaos Control, only this time reappearing behind the boy, kicking him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground and unconscious at the same time.

While all this had been happening, Rouge just happened to spot them from a window inside the hospital and came running out. "Shadow!" she cried, running up to his side. "What happened?" She was about to aid the boy when Shadow grabbed her arm, stopping her. "What're you doing? He needs medical attention!"

"This is the one who did it," the hedgehog stated flatly. Rouge didn't understand what he meant, and it showed on her face, so Shadow spoke again. "All of our kind that died, the ones rushed into hospital, and the faker..." His stomach suddenly made an unintentional flip as he mentioned the injured hedgehog. "This boy and his friends were the ones who did it."

Rouge made a small 'oh', before looking at the teen. "I'll call the police," she stated. After she dialed the number, she noticed Shadow walking away. "Where are you going?"

Shadow, who had begun walking away, turned, replying, "Home," before turning back and carrying on walking. He really didn't want to be out in the pouring rain for much longer. Rouge only sighed before telling someone at the police station about the teen.

After locking the front door and up hanging his raincoat, Shadow grabbed a towel from the kitchen and began trying his fur, not wanting to go to bed all wet and soggy. Shivering lightly, he turned the heating on before lying down on the couch, placing an arm behind his head in a half-relaxed manor before slipping his eyes shut.

- - -

Rain was yet again pouring down on the city. The drains on the road were still blocked, causing the already flooded streets to continue flooding. On rainy days such as this, business could be poor, as most people would much prefer to stay indoors than come out just to go to a café. She sighed, taking her gaze away from the window to glance at her new coworker, who was currently placing a tray with two cups of coffee on a customer's table. "Your first day and you're doing really well," the white and pink hedgehog commented as her dark coworker came back to behind the counter. When he didn't say anything she spoke up again. "Shadow, are you shy?"

Shadow chose to ignore the girl's comment as he walked back to the counter. He opened the cash register, quickly counter the money in it before closing it again as he heard the girl speak again. "No," he replied simply. "I prefer to only speak if it's necessary."

Belle played with her neatly combed quills on her shoulder, a faint blush on her face. She smiled cutely. "And what do you mean by 'necessary'?"

He let out a sigh. This is why Shadow preferred to stay alone. When you're with people, they constantly bug you and ask you questions. And the more questions you answer the more the person bugs you with another. "When I say 'necessary', I mean that if there is something on my mind that's not important then I don't say it."

"Uh, excuse me, can I have a napkin?" an old but healthy looking man asked from the far corner.

"I'll do it," Shadow said quickly when he noticed Belle picking up a spare napkin that they kept behind the counter. He walked over to the table and placed it down. Just as he was turning around, he felt something grab his wrist. He frowned, looking down at his wrist then at the man, knowing that he could easily get out of his grip, but was curious as to what he wanted. "Is there a problem, sir?" He tried not to sound too annoyed through his clenched teeth. If he were to be rude to the customer, then Gord may not accept his job request at the end of the week.

The man looked the hedgehog over from head to toe. "You are Shadow, am I correct?" he asked, a cigarette in his mouth.

Shadow slowly nodded. "I am. And I must ask you to put out that cigarette. Our shop does not allow smoking."

He smirked, letting the hedgehog's wrist go and putting the cigarette out on the table, putting a small scorch mark on it. "My name is Harold Mime. I've been investigating the sudden rise of anthropomorphic deaths. I was informed about a human teenager being arrested on suspicion of being one of the murders. I was also informed that you were involved in this. Am I correct?"

The dark hedgehog narrowed his eyes. "You are. But why are you investigating this?"

He sighed and leant back in his seat. "There are two reasons why. The first is that I was told that I was allowed to take on one more case before I retire and I wanted to take an interesting one. And when I found out about this case I thought 'Wow, this is big!' and took it. And the second is that my granddaughter's playmate is a small mouse girl, only about six. Just last week, the mouse disappeared and was found two days later beaten to death."

"And so you want to find the ones who have been committing all of these murders as payback for the mouse's death."

Harold chuckled. This hedgehog was smart. Perhaps he could be off assistance in finding the others who were behind these crimes. "Would you mind explaining to me in detail what happened yesterday in the incident you were involved with?"

"Hey, Shadow! Can I have a bit of help here please?" Belle asked from behind the counter.

The human dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small card. "It seems you're busy now. Call the number on my card when you get home and we'll arrange a meeting together when you're not busy."

Shadow nodded, taking the card before assisting the female hedgehog.

- - -

Bored.

Extremely bored.

That was the only way to describe how he was feeling right now. He hated having to lie down and do nothing for such a long time. He couldn't help but feel as though some of the weight was removed off of his chest from when he had accidentally told Shadow what had happened to him in the alley. He hated the fact that someone knew, yet at the same time he felt relaxed.

His ears twitched as he heard the sound of someone shouting down the corridor. The door to his room suddenly flew open and Rouge ran in. "Sonic! Watch out! Knuckles-" She didn't get to finish as a certain hotheaded echidna barged into the room. And he did not look happy.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, just what the hell have you gotten yourself into now!?" he demanded upon seeing the blue hedgehog sat in the hospital bed with the pillows propping him up. He had been on the phone to Rouge earlier, just to see how she was as she had left at around **3am**, when she accidentally slipped about Sonic being in the hospital. Almost immediately he had glided down from Angel Island just to give that careless hedgehog an earful.

Sonic rolled his eye and chuckled. "It's nothing, Knux. I'm fine," he replied with a cocky grin on his face as if to say 'I'm so good that nothing can destroy me'. Of course he knew that it wasn't true, but he liked to brag about it to his friends just to annoy them, especially Knuckles.

The fiery echidna growled, folding his arms across his chest. "Nothing, huh? Then care to explain why you have bandages going around your eye."

"It was just a fight," Sonic said quickly. He didn't like where this conversation was going. He brought a hand up to rub his head, feeling a headache starting to form.

Rouge placed a hand on the echidna's shoulder. "You know I can call security on you. People aren't supposed to barge into a hospital screaming and then start annoying a patient. Especially with a head injury."

Sonic wondered what the head injury was. It couldn't be his eye since that was on his face. Then he remembered the quills that had been torn out and began wondering how long it would take for them to grow back to their proper length.

Folding his arms, Knuckles sighed. He couldn't help reacting the way he did. It was just automatic since the azure hedgehog was just about always getting himself into trouble. He glanced back over at Sonic, noticing him massaging his head over the bandages. This had to be the worst he had ever seen the hero. He was worried about what had happened to him, although he wouldn't openly admit it. "Sorry for barging in on you like this. But it's really your own fault for being so reckless," he said, smirking at the last part.

Bringing his hand down and pulling the covers over his body more, Sonic nodded. "I know," he said quietly, before facing the wall and closing his eye, trying to act as though he was tired so the red one would leave.

Noticing the hedgehog's movements, Rouge grabbed her fiancé's arm, pulling him out of the room. "Come now, the patient needs his rest. And it would be much easier for him to sleep in peace!" she said. Once out of the room, she closed the door and turned to Knuckles. "Idiot."

Knuckles frowned. "What did I do?" he asked, looking clueless.

Rouge shook her head. "Did you know, Shadow's the only one who knows what happened to him?"

Now Knuckles was even more confused. "Shadow? Why would he tell him and not us?"

"According to Shadow, he said it before realizing. I doubt he tell anyone else, though. He seemed pretty upset when I went to check up on him afterwards." Rouge sighed. "Well, I better get back to working." She began walking away, but then turned to her fiancé and said, "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles began stuttering, not quite sure how to answer the question. Rouge only chuckled to herself and carried on walking. He sighed, glad that he wasn't forced to answer. He was about to go back up to the island when he turned to Sonic's door, a look of concern on his face. _'Sonic...'_

Back inside of the hospital room, a pillow was thrown across the room. The thrower, of course since there was nobody else in the room, was Sonic. He had once again tried to shift in a more comfortable position but to no avail. He glanced at the clock, noticing that it was past **5pm**. What time did Shadow get off work? He hoped that it was soon as he couldn't bear to stay in the hospital room for much longer. His bruised leg wasn't helping him either, as every now and then it felt as though someone was stabbing him with tiny, but painful, needles all over it.

He frowned, realizing that throwing his pillow was not a good idea, as now there was less cushion on his quills. He shifted onto his side, but moved back almost instantly as his good leg hit the bruised one, sending a jolt of pain down it. He sighed and folded his arms across his chest, pouting.

"Oh quit complaining. If you hadn't have thrown that pillow then you wouldn't be in so much pain."

Sonic's head shot up, regretting it in an instance as it clicked, putting him in even more pain. He gritted his teeth, lying back down. "I was wondering when you would show," he grumbled, still keeping his arms folded.

The first speaker walked over to the bed, allowing Sonic to see that his suspicions were correct. It was Shadow. He roughly picked the azure hedgehog up and put him over his shoulder, ignoring Sonic's protests. "I already checked you out before coming here," Shadow stated, making sure he had a good grip on the other. "I assume you don't want everybody bugging you, so we'll go quickly."

Sonic nodded, trying to get a bit of a grip on the ebony hedgehog before he felt a heavy gust of wind hit his back. "Ow," he mumbled, feeling small pricks of pain where his quills used to be. During the run, he noticed that he was gripping a strange material. Looking down, he noticed that it was a black raincoat. Sonic couldn't help but snigger. Trust Shadow to have a _black_ raincoat.

Shadow slammed the front door to his apartment shut after entering, obviously not in a good mood. When he had reached the hospital to check Sonic out, the nurse had mentioned about him being the other's caregiver. When he had asked, the nurse explained to him that he had been appointed Sonic's caregiver by a nurse Rouge.

Placing the other hedgehog on the couch, Shadow went into the kitchen, grabbing two recently washed towels and heading back into the living room. He threw one at Sonic before realizing that his black raincoat was on him, and quickly took it off. He dropped down in the seat next to his look-alike, attempting to dry off some of his quills. Even running faster than the speed of sound was not enough to keep you dry in weather that they were currently experiencing.

Next to the dark one, Sonic sat almost completely still, the towel placed over his head. His arms lay slack next to him and his eye seemed glazed over. He was deep in thought. Something was bothering him, it would easily be seen if the towel was draped over his head.

Shadow sighed as he finished off drying as much of himself as he could. He stood up, about to take the towel from Sonic but stopped, noticing that the other hadn't moved since he placed the towel on his head. "You better not be expecting me to do it for you," he said, referring to drying him off.

He sat there, not moving. Not even his chest rose from his breathing, making Shadow slightly concerned for whether or not the other was actually breathing. He sighed, about to leave when the azure one spoke. "There were three..."

Shadow turned, giving Sonic a questioning look. "Three of what?" he asked, sitting back down.

Moving a hand up to the towel, Sonic covered more of his face. "A blonde one...A brown haired one...And a black haired one..."

Shadow's eyes widened as the realization came to him that Sonic was speaking off his attackers. "What else can you remember?"

Sonic shook his head before grabbing the towel, rubbing it lightly against his head to try and dry it off. "I don't remember anything else about them, but I do remember that one had a bat, one had a pipe, and the third had an axe." He paused, turning towards Shadow. "They're still out there, aren't they?"

Getting impatient with the other, Shadow grabbed the towel and roughly dried off Blue's head and quills, earning muffled complaints from him. "Who new the fastest thing alive could be so slow," Shadow muttered under his breath, taking the towel away and walking into the kitchen to put it in the laundry basket. When he came back to the living room, he sat on the chair arm furthest away from Sonic. "And yes, but only two."

His ears twitched at the other's words. "Two?" Had one of them been captured? Sonic sat back, suddenly realizing that his mouth was rather dry. "You got anything to drink around here?"

Shadow nodded, getting up and heading back into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and quickly filled it up with water. Well the other didn't exactly say what he wanted to drink, so water would just have to do.

Sonic muttered a thanks as Shadow walked back into the room and handed him the glass. After taking a sip, he turned to Shadow, a grin on his face. "You know when I recover I'm challenging you to a race."

"You know when you recover I'm kicking you out," Shadow snapped back, disappearing back into the kitchen. He repapered in a matter of seconds with the laundry basket in his arms. "Stay here."

Sonic snorted, taking a couple of gulps from the glass of water. "It's not like I can run off anywhere." He sighed, leaning forward so that he could place the empty glass on the table. He took a quick glance around since he hadn't actually had time before to look at Shadow's apartment. There were two doors, not including the front door. He could easily see that one lead to the kitchen, and he guessed that the other lead to the small hall where the bedroom and bathroom were located.

A sly grin spread across his face, as he grabbed a hold of the arm of the couch and pushed himself up. Shadow had told him to stay there. But that could have meant not to leave the apartment. He limped over into the hall and looked around, frowning when he noticed a third door. Was that another bedroom? If there was another bedroom, the why was Shadow always sleeping on the couch since he had arrived? As he gently pushed the door open, his eye widened.

The room was almost completely black; the only light came from the hall. But despite of the darkness surrounding the inside of the room, Sonic could make out what looked like a small shrine at the back of the room. He slowly limped forward to get a better look and noticed a small picture frame. Inside of the frame was a photograph of a small blonde haired girl. He put on a thoughtful face, wondering who this girl was. Then it hit him. "Maria," he murmured. He suddenly froze when he heard a voice.

"I thought I told you to stay in there!"

Sonic just barely had time to turn around to see Shadow stood at the door before the other pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with his hands wrapped around Sonic's neck. The azure hedgehog squeezed his eye shut as Shadow's hands were also pressing down on the bruises around his neck from where one of his attackers had tried to strangle him, just as Shadow was doing now. He let out a small grunt as Shadow pressed down further.

All rage suddenly seemed to drop, and he quickly took his hands away and got off of the youth, an odd feeling suddenly rising inside of him. He watched the other slowly sit up, taking in deep breaths of air whilst rubbing his neck. Shadow noticed the bruises that were still there on Sonic's neck, realizing that he must have been pressing down on them. He turned his head away, not wanting to look at the other anymore. "Go back to the living room." He heard Sonic stand, but instead of his footsteps moving away, they were coming towards him. "I SAID GO!"

Sonic flinched, stopping in his tracks. He began wondering what had caused Shadow to suddenly let go like that. And more importantly why was he even angry with him in the first place? He shook his head. Shadow was a strange hedgehog at times. It was almost impossible to understand him. He turned around and limped back to the living room like he was told.

Shadow sighed, closing his eyes and placing a hand on his forehead. What the hell had just happened? He was just about ready to squeeze that pest's windpipe shut when he suddenly got an odd feeling that made him stop. Surely it could not be pity. He was getting soft. He should walk up to that faker right now and drop him off at someone else's home. Then he suddenly remembered that he was Sonic's caregiver, and he would probably get an earful from someone.

Sonic sat back down and the couch in a lazy manor. He frowned, still wondering why Shadow was angry with him just for looking at the shrine he had built for Maria. And besides, didn't Shadow say that the past was all behind him? The hedgehog sighed, closing his good eye, suddenly realizing that Shadow was angry at him because he said that he had put the past behind him, when he still had a shrine for someone from his past. He slapped a hand against his forehead, thinking about how stupid he was. He needed something to help clear his mind. A good long run would do nice right about now, but as his leg was still injured it would prevent him from getting very far before collapsing, and he was sure that Shadow wouldn't come after him and bring him back.

He slowly rose, brushing invisible dirt off of himself before taking a quick glance at the shrine he had made especially for his old and closest friend. It was true that he had told those who asked that the past was behind him, yet he couldn't seem to let go of Maria, no matter how hard he tried. Shadow placed a hand over his eyes, sighing. The image of Sonic beneath him when he had found him in this room flashed through his mind. He saw the look of pain on the other's face. He knew he had overreacted, but he couldn't help it. But it really was the blue idiot's own fault for snooping around in the first place. But still, he should at least offer some apology. He made a frustrated sigh before walking out of the room, giving the shrine one last glance before closing the door shut. As he walked into the living room, he saw Sonic sat on the couch with a familiar notebook in hand. He quickly swiped the book from the blue hedgehog's grasp. "I thought you had leant your lesson about looking through other people's things by now."

After coming to the conclusion that going out for a run was not the best option, Sonic spotted a small notebook on the table. He stared at it for a while before reaching out and grabbing it. He looked at its cover, recognizing it as a rent book. He was going to put it back down, but curiosity got the best of him and took a quick peek inside. As his eyes scanned the page he noticed the odd payments that had been made. Was Shadow having trouble paying the rent or something? The azure hedgehog's eye widened when he saw how much Shadow owed. His ear flattened against his head as the realization came to him that the rent must have been increased since he had arrived, meaning that Shadow had more to pay out. The book was suddenly swiped from his grasp as he heard Shadow speak, sitting down next to him. He turned his gaze, not so that he was looking at Shadow, but quite close to. "All that money you owe...Is it because of me?"

He quickly flipped through it, making sure that Sonic hadn't added anything before closing it and placing it on the table. He sat back and stared at the rain covered window. "Only about a third of it. The rest of it was built up over time."

Blue ears flattened as Sonic too stared at the rain covered window. He pursed his lips, pinching at the fabric beneath him. "A-About before..."

"Don't say it," Shadow said quickly, crossing his legs and placing his elbow on the arm of the couch and leaning his head against his hand. "I was the one that tackled you. Sorry." He quickly turned his head away, feeling the other's gaze on him. "A...And I'm sorry...if I hurt you..." Now he knew he was being soft; apologizing to his rival? And apologies were something Shadow rarely did.

A small smile crept up on his face knowing very well that Shadow was having a hard time apologizing, confirming the youth's suspicions that apologizing was something Shadow didn't do often. He waved a hand, despite the fact that the other was facing the opposite direction. "Don't mention it, I've been through worse." He let out a wide yawn, stretching and making his chest puff out, suddenly realizing how tired he was. He stood up, announcing that he was going to get some sleep before making his way to the hall. He stopped in the doorway, turning back to look at the other. "Hey, why don't you come and sleep in the bed tonight. I mean, the couch is uncomfortable and I don't take up that much space in the bed."

Shadow thought for a moment. He was right by saying that the couch was uncomfortable, but surely he couldn't sleep in the same bed as the azure one. Something about it just seemed...not right. But then there was a part of him that wanted to go. He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the odd thoughts that were suddenly clouding his mind. He twisted his head so that he could face Sonic, a thoughtful frown on his face. "If you ask me, it sounds as though you _want_ me to sleep in the same bed as you." The frown turned into an evil smirk as he turned back around. "But I'm afraid that unlike you, I'm not as eager to get into bed with another male."

Sonic's cheeks flared and he clenched his fists at his side. "Are you implying something?" he asked through gritted teeth. He knew exactly what it was that Shadow was mentioning, but he wasn't like that! No way! Nu-uh! Never! He folded his arms across his chest. "If it's what I think then I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken."

Shadow turned back to Sonic, the evil smirk still on his face. "That depends on what you think I'm implying. But then again, who said I was implying anything in the first place?" He stood up and went into the kitchen, leaving a baffled and flustered Sonic in the doorway to the hall. He heard a small 'humph' back in the other room and the door closing shut. Opening the fridge door, Shadow grabbed a bottle of alcohol, opening it and drinking a small amount. He began thinking about the offer that his blue rival had made just a few moments ago. He hadn't really slept all that well since he started sleeping on the couch, and when he did he slept in late due to not having an alarm clock. The digital clock in the bedroom could serve as an alarm clock. And yet another good reason to take up Sonic's offer. He sighed before taking a few mouthfuls of the alcohol.

Upon seeing the dark hedgehog walk out of the room, Sonic made a small 'humph' before stomping out of the room, closing the door shut behind him. Once entering the bedroom, he sat down on the bed and unbuckled his shoes, making sure to keep them close to the bed incase of emergency, pulled off his gloves and placed them on the bedside table, and dived underneath the bed covers. He lay on his stomach, his arms underneath his pillow to push it against his head more. His ears twitched at the sound of the bedroom door opening then closing again. There were a few shuffling sounds and an odd beeping sound. Then there was a sharp nudge in his back.

"Move over," Shadow's voice said. A grin plastered his face as he shuffled over to allow more room for the darker hedgehog.

After feeling the added weight on the other side of the bed settle, Sonic turned so that he was facing Shadow. "Guess I'm not the only eager one then," he snickered before getting a light hit on the head. "What was that for?"

Shadow turned so that his body was facing away from Sonic's, his muzzle an unusual light shade of pink. "Just shut up and go to sleep. Some of us have work tomorrow."

- - -

A large clap of thunder crashed across the dark sky, instantly jolting him awake. He lay still for a moment, unable to move until the thunder roared again; assuring him that it was only thunder. He turned over so that he was on his other side, spotting a black and red ball of fuzz and spikes. He seemed to be deep in sleep, as the thunder had not woken him.

Sitting himself up, he glanced at the digital clock, noting that it was about five in the morning. He heaved a sigh and slipped out of bed, silently leaving the room. A small smile spread across his face as he heard the thunder again. He remembered that whenever he stayed with his little brother, Tails, the little fox would always come running to him whenever it thundered. Sure he was smart enough to know what thunder was, yet he still seemed frightened of it.

After locking the bathroom door shut, Sonic switched the light on and paced over to the mirror. His brow furrowed as he looked himself over. He noticed how dark and dirty his coat had recently gotten and silently wondered if it was alright to use the shower while the bandages were still over his eye. He then remembered about the eye patch Shadow had given him before he had gone to the hospital. Where he had put it was far beyond Sonic's knowledge. It could be anywhere. He sighed, stepping into the shower.

- - -

**Beep...Beep...Beep...**_**SMASH!**_

And from then on, the alarm clock regretted allowing itself to be bought by Shadow the Hedgehog.

After smashing his alarm clock, Shadow groggily got out of bed, but due to the fact that he was still half asleep, he forgot that he needed to actually _use_ his legs to stand and ended up in a heap on the floor with the bed covers tangled around him. Frustrated, he slammed his fist hard against the floor; most likely annoying whoever lived in the apartment below. Shadow heaved a sigh and eventually managed to untangle himself and headed out into the hallway after his third try of actually opening the door before walking out. After his third step in the hall, Shadow suddenly slipped on something and fell face first on the floor. He growled, looking back to see small puddles of water the lead from the bathroom into his living room. One thing, or person rather, came to mind. Sonic.

Said hedgehog was sat on the couch, busy eating a sandwich he had made. A shiver suddenly ran down his spine and when he turned around he knew why. "Good morning, Shads. Sleep well?" he asked, nervously upon seeing the dark hedgehog with an equally dark scowl. He knew that he was in trouble, but for what? He gulped. "Eheh...Something the matter, Shads?"

'Shads' continue to glare at his doppelganger before walking in front of him, leaning in towards the other. Sonic squeaked and leaned back in attempt to get away from Shadow. The latter however just moved in closer so that their noses were almost touching. "First of all, don't you _ever_ call me Shads again," Ebony began in a low whisper; Sonic had to twitch his ears slightly towards the other to catch what he said. "And second, care to explain the puddles of water in the hall?"

He could feel the heat rush up to his cheeks from the sudden closeness and averted his gaze. He fidgeted a little, trying to come up with an answer for Shadow's question. "I...um...took a...shower?"

Shadow's gaze hardened. The last time he was in the bathroom there were definitely towels. He brought his hand up to behind the hedgehog's ear and touched it lightly with a finger and nothing more. Just as thought, the other didn't even bother to even _use_ a towel. His finger then moved to the bandages around the youth's head, noticing that it seemed damp.

If Sonic was feeling uncomfortable before, he felt far worse now. He squeezed his eye shut and his cheeks flared as he felt Shadow's touch. Just what was running through his caregiver's mind while he was doing this? It felt odd, not in a bad way, but he wasn't sure if it was in a good way either. Sonic suddenly found himself gritting his teeth as he felt slight pressure being applied where his eye had once been. "Sh­–Shadow...?"

"You never used a towel, did you?" Shadow inquired, leaning in even closer to Sonic who now had his eye opened and quickly looked away once Shadow connected his gaze with his own.

"N-No," he stuttered, his muzzle turning darker than Knuckles' fur. The fact that he could feel Shadow's hot breath on his face deepened it. Much to his relief, Shadow pulled away and disappeared off into the kitchen. He relaxed, closing his eye and placing a hand atop of the bandages on his forehead. What the hell was _that_ all about? Shadow so close to him, touching his ear gently...and why was he blushing? He wouldn't normally blush in front of Shadow. Then again, Shadow was never usually that close. A towel was suddenly thrown over his head. He turned to the kitchen doorway and saw Shadow. He got the message instantly and began drying off his fur. He placed the towel on his lap when he was done.

Shadow suddenly closed in again. _'Oh, please...not again!'_ the azure hedgehog begged. Only this time, Shadow pushed his head foreword a little so that he could take a look at the back of Sonic's head. He took his hand and gently unwrapped the bandages around his head, letting them fall on Sonic's lap to join the towel. Sonic's face during this time had been pressed against the white tuff of fur against Shadow's chest. _'...fluffy...'_ were Sonic's thoughts as he let the other unwrap his bandages. He then felt something else being wrapped around his head and covered his eye. He recognized it instantly as the eye patch Shadow had given him before he went to the hospital. He suddenly felt himself being pushed back against the couch and Shadow disappeared again, only this time in the hall.

Oblivious to Blue's pounding heartbeat, Shadow headed into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. His muzzle turned a light pink as the memory of waking up in the middle of the night when Sonic unconsciously snuggled up to him flashed through his mind. He pushed it aside on pulled out the top drawer next to the bed and grabbed a fresh pair of gloves, slipping the cuffs underneath his golden rings and doing the same with his socks. Sonic had been unnaturally quiet whilst he had been unwrapping the bandages. He suddenly scoffed. What did he care? He was about to glance at the digital clock to see what time it was when he noticed the shattered remains of it atop of the drawers. He sighed, getting up and heading back into the living room, looking at the clock he kept hung above the entrance to the kitchen. He furrowed his brow he headed towards the door, ignoring the still flustered hedgehog on the couch and put his air shoes on. "I'm heading out for work," he stated, grabbing his raincoat.

Back on the couch, Sonic snapped out of the confusing thoughts floating around his mind and stared at Shadow with a questioning look. "Already?" he asked, silently wanting the other to stay a bit longer. He was so bored in the hospital yesterday whilst waiting for Shadow. But then again, this was the dark hedgehog's apartment, meaning that there were plenty of things to go looking through.

Shadow zipped his coat up and said, "The café opens at **7am**. Thanks to you and your inability to use a towel after showering distracting me, I am now slightly behind schedule."

A snicker came from the couch. "More like you couldn't get out of bed."

"Says the same person who couldn't defend themselves." Shadow smirked, knowing that he had hit Sonic hard.

The azure hedgehog turned to him, a cold, hard scowl on his face. "That's low," he said just loud enough for Shadow to hear. The dark hedgehog in turn simply said 'humph' before exiting the apartment. Sonic shivered, realizing for the first time since coming into the living room that he wasn't wearing his shoes or socks. His shoes were close to where Shadow's were, by the door, and his socks he had dumped in the laundry basket. His gloves were also in the basket. So in a way, he was naked.

He stood up and limped over to the bedroom. He stopped in the doorway and glanced around the room before proceeding to the drawers. He pulled the first drawer out and saw Shadow's neatly folded socks. Surely the grouchy hedgehog wouldn't mind him borrowing his socks. And a pair of gloves too. Now that he was no longer naked, he needed something to stop him from being bored. A smile appeared on his face as an idea came to mind. He was about to stand when another thought entered his mind. He stretched his bruised leg out in front of him to see how bad it was. To his relief, they were no longer green and were slowly fading away. Sonic sighed in relief and stood up, heading back into the hall. He looked at the door at the back of the hall, remembering Shadow's strange behavior in that room the day before. He still didn't know what had caused him to pull away so quickly, but he was glad he did, otherwise he would have a crushed windpipe and wither being stuffed in a coffin or hidden somewhere.

But Shadow wasn't here right now. And he wouldn't be for quite some time. So Sonic went back into that room. Upon entering, he waved his hand about on the wall, searching for a light switch. He grinned when he found it, switching it on and illuminating the room. He slowly approached the shrine, noticing the thin layer of dust that had started to gather. _'Shadow should try to keep this clean.'_ Sonic thought. His gaze then set on the small picture of the blonde haired girl Shadow cared so much for.

"So, you're Maria," he said, not exactly expecting an answer. "You must have meant a lot to Shadow if he still has a shrine for you, even though he says that the past doesn't matter." He scratched the back of his head. "Um, sorry about barging in on you yesterday. That was kinda rude of me." Sonic sighed and turned to leave the room. Before turning the light of, he turned back to the photograph and said, "It was nice to finally meet you" before switching the light off and leaving the room.

- - -

**If you do _it _with a pregnant lady is it a threesome?**


	6. Chapter 5

- - -

**Chapter 5: Snuggles and Rose**

Gunmetal clouds plagued the sky, gently throwing small droplets of water to the ground. Shadow gently closed the front door, his gaze fixed upon something he spied as he had first opened it. He took off his raincoat, hanging it up to dry, not taking his eyes off of the sleeping figure of the azure hedgehog on the couch. Stripes walked towards the couch, crouching down to look directly at Sonic's sleep encumbered face.

His face was relaxed and peaceful, quite different from the usual cocky expression he wore. In Shadow's eyes, he looked like the child that had never been able to show itself, as the hedgehog was always off being a hero. Shadow's expression showed little sympathy, realizing that the reason Sonic could act so childish at times could be because he never had the chance to experience a true childhood. Thrown into battle at a young age, he grew up as a hero, always busy protecting and saving others, never having time to just play like a child should.

Without even realizing it, Shadow reached out a hand and gently caressed the speed demon's face, making the sleeping teen stir a little. That was when Shadow had realized what he was doing and pulled back, his muzzle on odd shade of pink. He stood upright and hurried into the kitchen. He placed a hand on his forehead and sighed. What was wrong with him? He was not being himself. To think that he, Shadow the Hedgehog, had just been caressing Sonic's face. _Sonic!_ Of all anthros! "I need a drink," he muttered to himself.

Sonic rolled onto his stomach, his eyelid opening slowly. Something didn't feel right. As if, something was missing. He unconsciously brought a hand up and rubbed where Shadow's hand had been just a few seconds earlier. He looked at his hand, pulling it away and frowning. Shaking his head, Blue sat up and looked around, his lone emerald eye spotting Shadow's raincoat. His ears twitched, trying to listen out for any sound. He smirked as he heard a noise from the kitchen and stood jogging in, forgetting about his bruised leg and falling over when he accidentally put too much pressure on it. He cursed, slamming his fist against the ground, grinding his teeth in pain. He gripped the edge of the couch, hoisting himself up onto his feet. "Thanks for the help," he said sarcastically to a certain black and red hedgehog who stood in the doorway, a smirk on his face and a bottle of vodka (not mine) in his hand.

Shadow simply shrugged, the smirk still on his face. "It was quite amusing actually," he replied before downing most of the vodka.

"I amused you, 'ey? Didn't think anything could amuse you, buddy-"

"I'M NOT YOUR BUDDY!"

Sonic looked away, sitting down on the couch. "Yeah, right...sorry." Peach hands gripped the edge of the couch as a single emerald eye found itself hidden behind Sonic's eyelid.

Noticing the sudden change in the azure speed demon, Shadow opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Grumbling to himself, the Ultimate Lifeform risked opening the door to find out who it was hat had interrupted him. He got a shock when he saw that it was the old man from the café, Harold Mime. "How did you get this address?" Shadow immediately asked.

Harold chuckled at the hedgehog's question. "Not even a 'hello'?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The light smile on his face disappeared as he noticed a royal blue hedgehog with an eye patch sat on the couch staring at him, a look of confusion sprawled everywhere. He pushed past Shadow, and strode over to the second hedgehog, kneeling down so that he was eyelevel. "You're Sonic, aren't you?"

Said hedgehog sat back against the seat, folding his arms. "Who wants to know?" he asked, glancing at Shadow who was frowning at the human. The human reached out to the azure hedgehog. His fingers just grazed the eye patch when Sonic slapped his hand away and shuffled away, frowning. "Get off of me!"

Harold sighed and stood. "I see. So you've been involved with them as well. That sick cult." He turned to Shadow. "I've managed to find out a little more about those attacks. If you would allow me to have a seat."

Musing briefly at the other hedgehog's reaction to the human's touch, Shadow nodded. Something Rouge had told him came to mind. Could it be that Sonic now felt unfavorable towards the humans? Possibly. But Shadow's interest shifted to Harold. "What have you learnt?" he asked.

Glancing briefly at the one-eyed hedgehog, Harold sat, pulling a small blue notebook from his jacket pocket. He opened it and flicked through some pages. He cleared his throat before saying, "The three children who have been attacking your kind have been identified as a sick cult formed by those who hate the anthropomorphic kind and survive solely on the thirst of this second species' deaths.

"The cult has been living in secret, growing as each day passes. As it appears they even let young teenagers join." Harold looked up at Shadow who stood leaning against the wall in front of the couch. "Do you remember that boy who you had a bit of a brawl with not too long ago?" Shadow nodded. "After hours of prosecuting we finally managed to get him to spit out where the cult had been hiding. When our troops arrived at the hiding place, there were only few members there, one of them being part of the trio who have been sighted the most.

"It appears as though the cult were notified about our infiltration and fled. But there were some, however, who thought that we would be unable to find them and stayed at the hideout."

"So what is going to be done about this cult?" the ebony hedgehog asked, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to concentrate on what the human was saying instead of the odd looks his blue counterpart kept giving the investigator.

"We are currently investigating where they could have fled to. We have tried asking the boy but when he answered under the lie-detector test he doesn't know."

Shadow sighed, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. "So we wait?

Harold nodded. "I'm afraid so. But I promise we will let you know as soon as we have any extra information." Standing, the human gave a quick nod to both Shadow and Sonic before exiting the apartment. As he made his way down the steps an evil grin appeared on his face as he pulled out a cellphone. He quickly dialed a number before putting it to his ear. "Yes, it is just as you thought. The hedgehog has been traumatized and is almost completely vulnerable. I think its time we have another shot, right boys?"

- - -

"This is completely idiotic. I refuse to speak of it anymore," Shadow stated, walking out of the room.

Sonic stood; being careful to make sure to much pressure wasn't added to his leg before following the dark hedgehog. "You gotta listen to me Shadow, that guy had evil written all over him. I mean, how else would he be able to get so much information about that cult?" the azure hedgehog asked, folding his arms as he watched his dark counterpart.

"Did you ever consider the fact that he is an investigator doing his job?" Shadow clenched his teeth in annoyance. Sonic was being extremely bothersome at the moment. Almost instantly after Harold had left Sonic had stated that he believed the human was working with the cult Harold had just told them about.

"Or maybe he is working undercover! I mean it's possible. People have done things like this before. They manage to sneak their way into this large company or something and learn as much as possible and then report back to these people who are completely against the-"

"Just because you had the crap beaten out of you by three humans then that doesn't mean they're all against you!" Shadow snapped in the younger hedgehog's face.

Sonic froze, suddenly finding it hard to find his voice. Was that the reason why he didn't trust Harold? All because three out of over a billion humans had managed to abuse him so badly. His ears flattened against his head as he turned, not saying another word to Shadow before exiting the kitchen. He headed to the bedroom and laid down, closing his single emerald orb. He had to admit that he was becoming paranoid about the human race. He knew it was childish. But that was all he ever was in front of someone like Shadow. A pathetic child not even worth to be called a hero.

The attack had damage his hero composure greatly, and if word managed to get around about his current condition, then what would the people think about him then? Every single person who believed that the great Sonic the Hedgehog who couldn't be defeated by anyone or anything had failed to be defeated by three small teenagers. He cringed and rolled on to his side. His eyelid soon slipped over his eye before snapping back open as the realization came to him that he when he had been left in that alley he was only inches away from death and if Shadow had not stumbled across him then he wouldn't be there at that moment in time. He sighed. He should be grateful to Shadow. Closing his eye once more, he soon fell into a deep slumber.

- - -

Shadow stared blankly at the slumbering hedgehog as he entered the bedroom. If they cobalt hedgehog had been asleep all this time then it's no wonder he hadn't heard a peep from him for the past few hours. He sighed walking over to the bed and tucking the other hedgehog in before getting into the bed himself. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't go to sleep.

Sonic, who lay next to the darker anthro, stuck deep within the land of dreams, groaned suddenly, rolling over and screwing his face up as the beginning of a nightmare crept its way into Sonic's mind. His hand that lay on the pillow gripped the material tightly as he let out a gasp.

Seeing the other's distress, Shadow sat up, wondering whether he should just leave him and let the nightmare leave by itself or find someway to calm the hedgehog and hopefully chase the dreams away so that they could both get some decent sleep. Realizing that Sonic probably wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he noted the chunk on Sonic's ear that had been bitten off. Everything that Sonic had gone through recently just didn't seem fair. What could he have possibly done that could force him to go through so much pain. Shadow gently traced his fingers over the dent, only to find that the ear flicked almost immediately after he had touched it.

Shadow blinked, finding it somewhat amusing. He reached out again, only this time massaged behind the ear. He noticed the other's face seemed to relax at the touch. After a few minutes, Shadow took his hand away as it looked to him as though the nightmare had dispersed. He laid back down, placing an arm behind his head lazily. He suddenly felt some weight on one of his sides and something gripping him tightly. He looked down and frowned when he saw that Sonic had rolled over in his sleep and unconsciously snuggled up to Shadow, draping an arm over the darker hedgehog's chest. "Get of," he growled, trying to shove the sleeping hedgehog off but to no avail. Sonic's grip was just too tight. In the end Shadow gave up and attempted to get sleep, trying his best to ignore the extra weight.

- - -

The first thing he noticed when his opened his eye was that it everything was still black. The second thing was that he felt snug and warm. Concealing his remaining emerald orb behind his eyelid, Sonic sighed as he unconsciously snuggled deeper into his pillow. Well...he thought it was his pillow. Something felt odd about it. He couldn't place his finger on it.

"Now that you're awake would kindly let go."

Sonic's eye shot open again as he realized why his pillow felt different. Bolting up, he moved as far away to the other side of the bed as he could, his muzzle over fifty different shades of red. "Sh–Shadow!" It wasn't his pillow he had been snuggled into at all. Not even close. It was Shadow.

Said hedgehog slowly sat, his eyes slightly red from not getting any sleep. The black and red hedgehog found it quite odd that his eyes were like that after simply not getting enough sleep. It never used to happen when he was first created. Perhaps he had become accustom to the human and anthros' way and now found it difficult to concentrate after a bad night.

Glaring at the look-alike, who was still very red, Shadow growled. "Do you usually grab people in your sleep?" he asked, his voice sounding calmer than he actually was. That was the second night that Sonic had grabbed him and snuggled up to him. The _second!_ If he was going to do once more then he would kick that blue ass out the second he moved the slightest inch closer to him.

"Um...well...I...you see..." Sonic stumbled for the right words. He didn't usually grab people while they were asleep, so why did he do it to Shadow? When there was a thunderstorm when Tails, Sonic closest friend, was younger and used to sneak into his bed he never grabber the little kit.

Shaking his head, Shadow got out of the bed and stretched his arms above his head, his chest puffing out. Sonic, who had been looking the other way to avoid Shadow's icy gaze, risked a glance at the dark anthro. His gaze was automatically drawn towards Shadow's broad chest. He quickly looked away again, now an even deeper shade of red. He mentally slapped himself for immediately looking at the other's toned body. If his friends found out that he had both snuggled up to Shadow in his sleep _and _ogled his chest, they would be either freak out, start constantly teasing him, or worse, both.

Shadow noticed that his counterpart seemed a little flushed but waved it off as he left the room and headed in the direction of the kitchen. He _really_ needed a cup off coffee before heading out to work. After pouring the hot liquid into his favorite brown mug, Shadow sat down at the table and sighed. He would be happier when that annoying blue thing was gone.

Also sighing, Sonic stood from the bed and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower. He waited until the temperature of the water was just right before getting in. Leaning his back against the cold wall Sonic shivered as the warm droplets of water fell onto his body before either sliding off onto the bottom of the shower or clinging to his fur. Sonic noticed a few bottles of shampoo, conditioner and a bar of soap on a little rack at the side. Grabbing the bottle and squeezing the gloopy liquid of the shampoo onto his hand, the hedgehog began rubbing his hand over his soft fur. He suddenly leaned his back against the wall of the shower and allowed his legs to give out as he fell to the ground. Closing his remaining eyes Sonic sighed as the water that fell upon him slowly washed away the soapy bubbles from his azure fur.

He sat there for the best of thirty minutes. It was after that amount of time when he heard banging on the bathroom door. "How long does it fricken' take to have a shower?!" Shadow's voice boomed from the other side of the door.

"Alright, alright!" Sonic called back, standing up and switching the water off before stepping out the shower. He grabbed a towel and quickly dried off his fur before heading out of the bathroom, ignoring an irritated Shadow as he made his way to the lounge. Flopping down on the couch, he flipped the TV on, wondering if he would find anything about himself on any of the channels. When he switch to one channel, he saw a report about him, but it wasn't one of the normal ones that told of his greatness. The headline read: _Local Hero Sonic the Hedgehog Missing!_ Blue ears instantly flattened. He _had_ been away from the public for a while. He had only been awake for a few days but he must have been unconscious for quite some time. One of his friends must have reported him as missing.

Shadow stepped in the lounge, heading over to the door where his shoes were. His ear turned as he listened to the report on the news while putting his skates on. "You're gone for a short while and they make a big deal out of it," Shadow mused. "But I'm not surprised since they can't survive knowing that their hero isn't watching over them."

"Yeah..." Sonic chuckled softly, leaning back in his seat.

After pulling on his gloves to make sure they were on okay and putting his black raincoat on, Shadow turned to Sonic. "I'm heading out for work and said, "Once again, don't destroy my home," before leaving the apartment.

Five minutes after Shadow's departure, the phone suddenly rang. Glancing over to where the phone sat, Sonic stood up and headed over to it. If it were anything important he could tell Shadow when he returned. Picking up the phone he answered. "Hello?"

"_Sonic? Is that you!? Please tell me its really you!" _a familiar female voice cried down the phone.

Heaving a sigh, Blue replied, "Yeah its me Amy. Why did you call Shadow?"

"_You've been missing for so long! Everyone's been really worried about you. We even have the police searching the streets for any signs of you. I called Shadow to ask if he's seen you at all. Wait...What are you doing at _Shadow's _home?"_

"It's a long story Amy. But seriously. The _police!?_ You didn't have to go that far!"

"_Just you stay where you're at! I'm going straight over there!"_ was what Amy said before putting hanging up.

Groaning, Sonic put the phone down and headed back over to the couch, letting himself fall on it. Great. Just what he needed. Amy squealing down his ear how much she loves him and would like to go on a date with him. Grabbing a cushion, he placed it over his head and made a frustrated sigh. But did Amy even know where Shadow's home was? Knowing her she probably did.

Soon enough there was a knock at the door. Knowing that it would be her, the azure hedgehog stood and opened the door. He was instantly ambushed by the familiar pink hedgehog with a bear hug. "SONIC!" she cried, tightly wrapping her arms around him. "Where have you _been!?_"

Struggling to push the girl off of him, Sonic managed to say, "I've been here! And please get off of me before I run out of air!"

Amy simply pulled away and smiled sweetly. The smile vanished though when she saw the state her beloved was in. "What happened to you? I bet it was Shadow wasn't it! He's kept you prisoner here and tortured you hasn't he! But don't you worry! We can escape now before he­–"

"AMY!" Sonic cut her off. He sighed and shook his head. "Shadow didn't do this to me...And he _isn't_ keeping my hostage. In fact it's the opposite. He's been taking care of me."

She couldn't believe what he 'boyfriend' was trying to tell her. There's no possible way that Shadow would take care of Sonic. They were enemies after all. Besides, Shadow was a lowlife emo. "But why Shadow? Why didn't you come to me? I could've have made you better in no time."

"If Shadow hadn't of found me I'd be dead!" Sonic suddenly snapped, making Amy jump slightly. He sighed again. "I'm sorry Amy...I just haven't been myself since it happened..." He looked at her with serious expression. "I want you to go back and everyone that I'm okay. I'll probably be able to get out in about a week." Without even saying goodbye, Sonic closed the door. He leaned his back against the door and slid down to the floor like he had done in the shower. He knew exactly why he hadn't been himself recently. After the attack he had slowly been slipping into depression. Although at times it may not have seemed like it, he was. He didn't want to be depressed over it all, and thinking that only made it worse. Quite a few scars had been left on Sonic, both physically and mentally. He often wondered to himself if everything would return to the way it was one day. And if it didn't...then what...? "I need a run..."

- - -

A deep frown was set on his face as he made his way home. Not only was it raining, again, but it was extremely windy and running against it, as Shadow was doing, it proved to be difficult even with speed. Anyone would think that he was crazy for going out in such weather...Then again he did try to kill an entire planet...Luckily the rain wasn't that bad when the dark hedgehog had made his way to work, so at least he wouldn't of had to work all day soaked to the bone. A somewhat feeling of relief washed over him as he spotted the apartment block he lived at just up ahead. He quickened his pace and was at his home in no time.

Upon entering the apartment, Shadow spotted no signs of the blue miscreant in the lounge. Feeling as thought something was up, Shadow decided to inspect the house without even taking his raincoat off. _'He'll probably be mooching off my food,' _the dark one thought. But when he looked in the kitchen it was empty. _'Bedroom maybe?'_ Checking there, he found that the room was also empty. _'Bathroom!'_ Still no Sonic. A slight growl emitted from his through as there was only one room left in apartment. As he opened the door, he found nothing but the small shrine and the photograph of Maria. It was then that the realization hit him. Sonic had run off.

Breaking into a mad dash, Shadow raced out of the apartment and back outside. He looked all over town but still found no Sonic. He then started checking places that were higher up but to no avail. "Dammit! Where is that pathetic hedgehog!?" he growled as he continued to search the city.

- - -

A snow-white hedgehog sighed to herself as she slowly made her way home through the rain, a light pink umbrella above her head. Her grandfather was staying at work to finish off some paperwork he had to do and had instructed Belle to go home. As she walked, her thoughts wandered to the black hedgehog that had been recently working with her grandfather and herself. She blushed lightly as she thought of how hot his well toned body looked. She quickly shook her head. "Snap out of it, Belle. Don't fall for the coworkers." As she continued on the road home, she found herself walking next to the railing that went around the local beach. If it were a sunny day she would have stopped for a while just go and play in the water. But since it was rainy weather, she believed that she was wet enough. She stopped suddenly as she noticed the figure of a hedgehog sat on the floor, leaning against the railing. He appeared to be hurt. She quickly ran over to the hedgehog and noticed that he seemed just a little older than she was. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, placing the umbrella over him to shelter him from the rain.

The hedgehog looked up at the anthro who had come over to him. She was a hedgehog, just like himself. At first he thought it was Amy, but then noticed that she was white, not pink. Trying his best to mask the pain he was, he replied, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just resting." Grabbing onto the railing, he managed to pull himself up, but found that he had to hold onto the railing for support, his leg stinging just as bad as it did when it was first bruised.

Belle wasn't convinced when she noticed that the hedgehog had to keep a hold of the railings for support. It was then she noticed the eye patch on his eye. "What happened to your eye?" she asked without even thinking. She knew she had made a mistake in asking when she saw him flinch at her question. "I'm sorry! I–I shouldn't have–"

"It's fine," he said, cutting someone off for the second time that day. He waved his free hand casually. "You didn't know." He quickly tested his leg to see if it was any better, but found that it still stung.

Looking down at the ground, watching as the rain hit it and caused ripples in the small gathering of water that had appeared, Belle quietly said, "You're not okay. You're hurt."

"What the _hell _were you thinking you damn hedgehog!" a dark voice spat.

Turning their heads, the two hedgehogs saw a darker one who did not look happy. Belle was the first to speak. "Shadow? What are you doing out here?"

Shadow ignored the female's question. His focus was on the royal blue hedgehog who stood clinging to the railings with one hand and was giving him a blank stare. "Care to explain yourself faker?" he questioned, folding his arms.

Giving a shrug, Sonic replied, "I just went out for a run is all."

"Just?" Shadow repeated. "_Just!?_ You could've have gotten into worse trouble than you already have and I don't really want to carry you back to my place just to treat you only to find that you'll go out again and get your ass kicked!"

Sonic frowned. "Well I didn't exactly ask for you to take care of me. And I can take perfect care of myself!"

"Well it doesn't look like it to me. Try standing without your hand on the railing."

Growling a little, Sonic let go of the railing but quickly grabbed it again, this time with both hands. He sighed. "Okay, okay. I was an idiot for running off," he admitted, keeping his stare to the ground.

Watching the hedgehogs' quarrel, Belle remained quiet, not really wanting to become part of the argument. Her eyes suddenly widened when she recognized the name Shadow had used for the azure hedgehog. She glanced at Sonic who was glaring at the ground with both of his hands on the railing. It couldn't possibly be the same Sonic the Hedgehog who saved everyone could it? In her eyes, he looked pretty weak physically, but she knew he was trying hard mentally to stay strong. But seeing the world hero in such a state, where he couldn't even stand up on his own, seemed quite shocking to her. Maybe this is what Sonic was like when he wasn't off saving the world.

"Belle." Said girl looked over at Shadow who looked pretty smug with himself. "You're supposed to be going home," he told her, remembering that he heard her grandfather tell her to head straight home before he left. The snow-white hedgehog simply nodded and quietly said goodbye before leaving. Once the girl was out of sight, he made his way over to Sonic, slipping his jacket off. He placed it around Sonic shoulders and gave him a blank stare. "You're a real idiot you know."

Sonic looked at Shadow, a little surprised that Shadow had given him his jacket. He let go of the railing with one hand to pull the jacket around him more. He let go with the other when he struggled to move it and fell forewords, only to be caught be an arm wrapped around his middle. He the found himself being flung over Shadow's shoulder before the black and red hedgehog set off back to the apartment.

- - -

**Holy freaking lol I updated. Yeah I've had writers block. But I'm back now. Please review all you wonderful readers!:)**


	7. Chapter 6

- - -

**Chapter 6: True Friendship**

"You didn't have to carry me."

Closing the door shut the black and red hedgehog headed over to the couch and put the azure hedgehog who was over his shoulder down on the seat. "You're injured," stated Shadow. "How else would you get back?"

Sonic sighed as his seat back. "I guess I shouldn't have gone on that run," he mumbled.

Looking out of the window, Shadow spotted that the clouds seemed lighter than they usually were. Perhaps the cursed rain will finally go away in the near future. His eyes suddenly narrowed as a figure outside caught his attention. It looked exactly like another one of the trio that had attacked Sonic. "Stay here," the dark one said suddenly, making Sonic slightly curious.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, but was ignored as Shadow quickly left the apartment. "Shadow!" Letting out a sigh, Sonic sat back in his seat a slight frown on his face. "Where could he be going?"

Nearly jumping down each flight of stairs on his way down, Shadow kept his mind focused on getting to that kid before he disappeared. If it was another one of the attackers then he couldn't let them get away. All three of those boys deserved to rot in hell for what they did to Sonic. Shadow didn't know why but whenever the boys came to his mind he felt a burning desire to make them suffer brutally. Bursting through the door outside, he came face to face with the teen who looked as though he had been waiting for him. Remember back to the day he had first found the azure's broken body, the Ultimate Lifeform recognized that the teen in front of him was the brown haired one. In the boy's hand was a baseball bat. "So you're with that cult, too, aren't you?"

"What cult?" the boy asked with false innocence that freakishly resembled the blonde boy. "I've never heard of any kind of cult. So why would I be a part of something that I don't know about."

Shadow growled. "Don't play dumb with me! I know all about what your cult does to our kind! And the reason behind it is just plane stupid!"

The boy attempted to take a swing at Shadow, but the hedgehog managed to doge it in time. Making a 'hmph' sound, he stood upright, keeping the bat by his side. "If you ask me, you're the stupid one."

Raising an eyebrow, Shadow questioned, "Killing of anthros just because they coexist with you is smart? I suggest you sort out those issues and just leave us alone!"

The brown haired teen shook his head. "Okay, so I'll admit I'm with the cult. After that talk with Harold I'm guessing that you know what our purpose is. We find an anthro, and kill it." He used his bat to point up at the window to Shadow's apartment. "But some of them are rescued before they die. That means our mission has failed. So we try again and again until they are dead once and for all."

- - -

Sonic sat bored, wondering where Shadow had suddenly rushed off to. He was slowly nodding off when a noise from outside the apartment caught his attention. _'Probably some loud neighbor,'_ he thought, putting it aside. After hearing another noise, Sonic looked over at the door and noticed it was open. "Shadow?" he called out but got no reply. "He probably didn't shut the door properly."

A dark shadow suddenly rose over the hedgehog. Looking behind him, he felt an impact in less than a second.

- - -

Ruby eyes widened in realization. That teen was here to kill Sonic! "You're going to have to get through me before you even _think_ of getting him!" he spat.

"Oh?" asked the boy, a maniacal grin on his face. "I'm afraid you've made a fatal mistake!"

"And just what is that?"

The grin widened. "You left him completely open..."

- - -

Falling to floor with an 'oof', Sonic rubbed his head where whatever had hit him struck. He pulled his hand away to find blood on his hand. He slowly turned his gaze to behind the couch, the rare sight of sheer horror in his eye. Behind the couch stood the final black haired attacker, the very same pipe he had used to plunge into Sonic's eye in his hand.

"Good to see you again...Sonic the Hedgehog."

- - -

"You bastard!" Shadow cried as he made to turn and head back to his apartment, only for the teen to try at him again. Shadow grabbed the bat and managed to flip the brown haired boy over his shoulder onto the ground. He was about to leave again when he found the he couldn't moved properly. When he looked he saw that the boy's hand was wrapped around his ankle. "Get off!" Shadow kicked his leg viciously, trying to pry the kid off, but to no avail. The grip was too tight.

"Our mission will be complete!" the boy shouted, his fingernails digging into Shadow's ankle. He suddenly found that a foot had made impact with his head, leaving a small cut. He growled in frustration and grabbed his bat that was nearby and attempted to hit Shadow again.

Quickly grabbing the bat before it hit him, Shadow yanked it out of the teen's hand before bringing it down on his head, knocking his out cold. He shook his leg until his ankle came loose. He paused for a few moments to catch his breath before looking up to where his apartment was. He then took off to his apartment, hoping that what the teen had said was untrue.

- - -

Sonic's entire being froze as the icy voice rang through his ears. This couldn't be happening. There's no way that boy would know how to find him. His gaze shifted to the pipe, noticing how there was some blood on it.

"I see you remember," the boy said casually, twirling the pipe. "The blood on it was from that day, you know. Normally I'd wash it after a kill but I thought that it seemed somewhat...special. But.." he stopped twirling the pipe, his grip tightening on it. "Only one side has your blood on it. It would be much more satisfying if both had it!"

Sonic quickly stood, trying his best to forget the pain in order to jump out of the way as the boy attempted to drive the pipe through him. He was in no condition to fight. But if he didn't then he could die. And Sonic certainly didn't want to die. "How did you know where I was?" he asked, trying his best to mask the shakiness in his voice.

The boy chuckled. "You remember that fat guy called Harold don't you?"

A gasp escaped the hedgehog's throat. "He really _was_ working with you!"

Giving a slow nod, the teen gripped his pipe with two hands like a bat. "You bet he WAS!" he cried, swinging his pipe when he spoke the last word at Sonic. The metal object hit him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying backwards. The boy stood over him swinging the pipe loosely in one hand. "You poor...poor...creature." He gripped the pipe with two hands again and raised it above his head with the clean end directly above Sonic's remaining eye. He quickly put his foot and the hedgehog's chest so that he wouldn't be able to escape.

Closing his remaining eye tightly and making a silent pray that help would come, Sonic waited for the pipe to permanently blind him. But after a few seconds, it never came. Sonic risked opening his eye. A wave of relief washed over him when he saw Shadow stood above him gripping the pipe that was just centimeters away from Sonic's eye.

The black hedgehog held the pipe firmly, scowling at the final attacker. When he had rushed into the room he had found the human pinning Sonic to the ground with his foot and the pipe raised above his head. Sonic had his eyes closed and looked as if he was praying for help. In one swift movement, Shadow swung the pipe around, causing the boy to fly in the direction Shadow spun the pipe. That lead to the boy to smashing into the wall headfirst and become unconscious.

Sonic slowly sat up and lightly rubbed the gash that was above his eye and looked from Shadow to the boy, the boy to Shadow, then Shadow to the boy again.

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked, turning to Sonic and kneeling down next to him. He noted the small, bleeding gash above the other hedgehog's eye, thinking it would be best to wipe it, but waited for any sort of response from Sonic.

A little shocked from the concern in Shadow's voice, Sonic slowly nodded. "Just a bit winded," he replied.

Shadow nodded and stood, heading into the kitchen to find the mini first aid kit he kept. He quickly returned with a few cotton pads, a bottle of antiseptic and a plaster that was just the right size to cover the gash. Kneeling down in front of Sonic he again, he poured some of the liquid onto the pad before gently dabbing the gash.

"Shouldn't you do something about him?" Sonic asked, looking down at the floor. He felt something cold and a light sting as Shadow saw to his wound.

Continuing to clean the gash, Shadow replied, "He'll be out for a while. I'll dispose of him later. Right now it's unimportant. What is important is making sure you're okay." He stopped cleaning the hedgehog's wound up in order to pour more antiseptic on a different pad, finding that the first one was too dirty. "How did they know...?"

"It was Harold," Sonic said spitefully, still staring at the ground.

Shadow frowned. "Haven't we already gone through this? Harold is _not_ working against us."

"That kid," Sonic motioned over to the unconscious teen, "Told me himself that Harold had informed them of where I was! And if you don't believe me then ask him yourself when he wakes up!"

Shadow sighed as he put the pad down on the floor next to the other one. He then grabbed the plaster, took the strips off and stuck it down over the gash. Once that was done he glanced at the unconscious teen. "There's something I need to do." He turned to Sonic. "That means I'm going to have to leave again." Standing, Shadow made his way over to the teen. "I'll come back as quickly as I can," he stated, grabbing the teen before Chaos Controlling away.

Sonic shuffled over to the side of the couch, using the arm to help pull himself up. He coughed lightly as his chest stung. He then moved in front of the couch and fell on it on his side. "Thank you..." he whispered, closing his eye and placing a hand over it.

- - -

Harold Mime sat in his office doing some paperwork that he had received. He was hoping to finish it soon so that he would be able to go home. He was just about done when there was a flash of light in the centre of the room and a black hedgehog appeared who dropped two human teenagers on the floor. "Shadow? What is the meaning of this?" he exclaimed, standing from his seat.

Shadow simply frowned at the man. "Here are two of the kids from the trio," he stated. "They somehow managed to find us. And according to Sonic, one of them told him that _you_ were the one who told them."

"That is absolutely preposterous!" boomed Harold, frowning deeply at the hedgehog.

Shadow cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Just yesterday when you came to tell us about that cult, you told us that you managed to capture one of the kids when you ambushed their lair. That would mean that there would only be one kid still left out there. But how do you explain this?" he gestured to the two unconscious teens. "There are two."

Harold chuckled as he sat back down in his seat. "You really are one smart hedgehog. Yeah it was me. I set that other kid free so that they could do the job correctly. But as it seems they failed again."

"What you did was strictly against the law!"

"Don't you think I know that? But look around. We are the only two in the room. How are you going to prove that it was me?"

A smirk played on Shadow lips as he pulled a tape-recorded out from his quills. "Just the confession you made," he said before using Chaos Control to leave the room again.

- - -

After handing the tape to the chief of police, Shadow had decided to walk home. For the first time in weeks, there was no rain falling. And although it was night, Shadow was still glad that the clouds had slowly drifted away and patches of the starry sky could be seen. It did seem odd though how the rain had stopped when the boy's and Harold were all seen to and made sure they would never do any murderous acts again.

As he reached the apartment block, Shadow slowly trooped up the stone stairs until he reached his home. He opened the door and let himself in, locking the door behind him. When he looked around the room he saw the familiar sight of Sonic asleep on the couch. As there were no lights on in the room, the only source of light was the rays from the moon as it shone down through the window and onto Sonic. Shadow found himself admitting that he was glad that the boys had been put away, for now Sonic wouldn't have to live in worry that they would attempt to kill him again.

Sighing to himself, Shadow moved over to where the slumbering hedgehog, pulling the black raincoat he still had on off and hanging it up before and gently picked him up bridal style and heading over to the bedroom. Once he tucked Sonic into bed he headed over to the bathroom to take a shower. While showering, he silently wondered to himself if he should get Rouge to come and check up on Sonic and try to find out when the blue blur would be able to leave. He felt a small churn in his stomach as he thought about the other leaving. Until that day he found Sonic, Shadow had always lived alone and preferred to not have any visitors. But after bringing Sonic home, he found that the home had a little more life in it. He hated to admit it, but he had come accustom to having Sonic annoyingly about. And once he leaves, it would go back to being the lonely, empty home it was.

Pushing his thoughts to one side, Shadow switched the water off now that he was finished showering. He quickly dried himself off before paying his respect to Maria by the small shrine he had. Now all that was done, Shadow thought it would be best to get some rest. Upon entering the bedroom, he saw that Sonic was hugging his pillow close to him as he slept. Ebony shook his head. "At least it won't be me he cuddles tonight," he said to himself before getting into bed.

- - -

Sonic awoke to the unfamiliar rays of sunlight that caked the bedroom through the window. Groaning slightly, the azure hedgehog buried his face in his pillow. Why didn't Shadow have any curtains or blinds to shut out the light in the morning? Wait...light...sunlight? Sonic looked up from the pillow and smiled as he saw that it was no longer raining and the sun shone brightly again. He pushed the covers aside and slowly limped over to the window. That was the first time Sonic realized that Shadow's apartment was pretty high up. He heard some shuffling from behind him, and Sonic turned around to see Shadow still asleep. Sonic grinned as he made his way back to the bed. He climbed over to the side Shadow slept on and his grin widened. Putting two hands on Shadow's side, he counted to three before pushing the dark hedgehog out of the bed.

The dark hedgehog suddenly found himself awake on the bedroom floor with the covers tangled around him. He frowned when he heard Sonic laughing. Untangling himself, Shadow stood and gave the laughing hedgehog a glare. "Any particular reason _why_ you pushed me off the bed?"

Sonic shrugged. "You have work today right?" he asked, watching as Shadow slowly nodded. "Well you don't have an alarm clock so if I hadn't of pushed you out of bed you would be late, get fired, miss paying the rent and become a homeless bum."

Shadow's glare only darkened. "I can get myself up!" he snapped, before leaving the room. He headed towards the lounge and then out the door. He had decided to check the lockers downstairs where the mail would go if he were to receive some. Since he had been so busy putting up with the annoying blue hedgehog he had been forgetting to check. When he made it to the bottom floor, the door to an apartment swung open to reveal the landlord.

"Shadow!" he boomed. "Do you have any idea of how much noise there was in your apartment yesterday?! I could hear it down here!"

Shadow simply glared. "If a murderous teenager came into your apartment and tried to attack your roommate it wouldn't exactly be quite, now would it?" he growled before heading to where his mail, if he had any, would be. Taking a look, he saw a white envelope with his name on it. He quickly opened it as he began heading back to his apartment. It appeared to be a letter from the hospital asking to make a check up appointment for Sonic. _'Couldn't I just get Rouge. It's much easier.'_

"Whachya lookin' at?" Sonic asked, peering over Shadow's shoulder.

Blinking, Shadow looked around. He was back in his apartment. His ruby eyes then turned to the blue hedgehog who was trying to look at the letter in his hand. The glare returned. "Do you insist on being so nosey all the time?" He then sighed and put the letter on the table before making his way into the kitchen. "You need a check up is all."

As soon as Shadow was out of sight Sonic picked the letter up, his eye scanning the printed words on it. "Is that it?" he grumbled, putting the letter back down on the table. Limping over to the kitchen, Sonic saw Shadow Placing some poptarts in the toaster. "Don't I get one?"

Shadow simply glared at Sonic. "They're both for you," he replied, not really paying attention to the other hedgehog as he made a cup of coffee. Glancing at the clock on the oven, which he rarely used, he spotted that he had some time before he had to leave for work. "So I suppose that once you're back up to full strength you will go back to that fox," Shadow said before evening thinking.

Sonic chuckled and leaned against the counter. "I didn't think you'd care. I though that it wouldn't matter where I was just that I was away from here," the azure one said, running a hand through his quills, feeling a little relieved when he felt some of his quills were starting to grow back.

"For once you've said something smart," grumbled Shadow, sitting down at the table and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Thanks for the compli–hey!" Sonic let out a sigh and copied Shadow's action, sitting down at the table. "Well, if _so_ interested, then I guess I could tell you that I might go back there. I _do_ have a home of my own, you know. I just rarely use it. Kind of gets a bit lonely." His ear, well what was left of it with the giant chunk mark in it, twitched as the poptart popped up from the toaster. He leapt up from his seat and grabbed the hot tarts, placing one in his mouth, while holding the other.

Shadow looked down at the coffee in his cup, deep in thought. He then glanced up at Sonic, watching him as he stuck his tongue out because the poptart was too hot. Sonic didn't like his home...because he was lonely...? Then maybe...Shadow mentally slapped himself. There was no way that Sonic would want to stay in the apartment with Shadow! Or would he? Heaving a sigh, Shadow stood and mumbled about getting ready before leaving the kitchen with his coffee still in his hand. He went to the bedroom to get a new pair of gloves and socks. He had already put the ones from yesterday in the laundry basket. He quickly drank the rest of his coffee before heading to the front door, putting on his shoes and leaving without a word.

Sonic, who had moved to the couch, watched as Shadow left without a word. He simply shrugged, biting into one of the poptarts and switching on the TV. After finding nothing of interest on any of the channels, he sighed, switching it of and just laying back in his seat. "Sooooo bored...."

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Shadow glanced up at the sky, noticing some puffy dark clouds slowly making their way towards the city. Snow already it would seem. The autumn was only just packing up and winter was trying to squeeze in. As he began making his way towards the café, he stopped and turned as he heard someone calling his name. A small pink and white hedgehog came running up next to him. Shadow just looked at her, not saying anything.

"And a good morning to you, too," Belle said with a smile. She glanced at the apartment block behind the darker hedgehog. "This where you live?"

"You really like to stick your nose in everything don't you," mused Shadow, raising an eyebrow at the girl and folding is arms.

Laughing, Belle Put her arms behind her head lazily. "You've only known me for a few days and already you know exactly what I'm like. C'mon! Let's get to work! I presume that's where you're heading, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Shadow glanced up at the window of his apartment before walking towards the café. Belle appeared to talk most of the way there, telling him about random little things of which Shadow would reply, 'yeah' or 'uh-huh' to.

"Um, hey Shadow," the girl spoke up, now seeming a little hesitant. She looked up into the ruby eyes of Shadow that were boring into her. "That blue hedgehog last night. It was Sonic the Hedgehog, wasn't it."

Shadow nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

"He's hurt," she said softly. "How did it happen?"

Sighing to himself, the black and red anthro replied, "It's classified. Only a certain few know of it. Whatever you do, tell no one about his injuries. Understand?"

"I understand. You're taking care of him aren't you? That's so sweet."

Shadow mentally jumped, his muzzle slightly pink at the sudden thought that was entering his head. "I'm not taking care of him," he almost stuttered. "He's just staying at my home until he recovers."

Belle just smiled. "Right," she sang. "if it's okay with Grandfather then would I be able to meet him properly? Oh please Shadow I won't bother him. It's just that he's a big hero and all..."

"Wanting to be friends with someone just because they're a hero is pretty ignorant of you."

Blinking, Belle asked, "What do you mean?"

"Ah, I don't know. Just...If you want to be a friend of someone just because they are famous...wouldn't that mean that it's not true friendship? For all you know that person could be stupid, selfish and annoying. Would you really want to be friends with that? Or would you rather be friends with someone who actually cares about you and likes to be around you," Shadow explained, finding it difficult to find the right words to describe this. He wasn't very good when it came to friendship and stuff.

Belle glanced down at the ground. "I guess I never thought of that...let's hurry up. The café is only down the street."

Nodding, Stripes continued towards the café, odd thoughts about the blue speed demon suddenly entering his mind. He then mentally slapped himself, not believing the speech he had just made. _'What a fool'_ he thought to himself before opening the café door and entering it to begin the day's work.

- - - Okay, I didn't actually fully proof read this. I would havebut when I went to the edit/preview part of the site it's messed up and I can only see two lines...And also, any of you who like those crazy penguins of madagascar please join my forum: PoM Role Play and Discussion. I mean you don't have to but if you want you can. Also I noticed that there were quite a lot of hits for the last chapter. It made me happy. More reviews would have been nicer but that's okay. You can review for this one. See Yah! 


	8. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Hey there loyal readers. I have a proposal for you. I am offering one of you the chance to play Shadow in my new Forum: The official Sonadow RP. What you must do is write a brief story where you act out Shadow (in thrid person though). Simple. After that go on my home page and click on send email. Now all you have to do is copy and paste the story in the message and then click send. I will make sure to email you back to tell you if you have the part or not. Good luck!**

- - -

**Chapter 7: **

_A blue lid fluttered open to reveal a lone emerald orb. Looking around, Sonic determined that he had no idea where he was. Everything around him was black. After taking a couple of steps back, the azure hedgehog could feel something beneath his left foot. Looking down, he saw a pool of red liquid that seemed to growing larger by the second. Sonic literally jumped back a few feat._

_He looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. Three shadows stood holding weapons in their hands, and although they had no faces, Sonic could tell that they were smirking. They suddenly charged at him, and Sonic, not knowing else to do, ran. He ran as fast as he could but the shadows continued to follow, their weapons above their heads in the air. Pain coursed through his bruised leg, making him fall to the ground like it had done so many times before. Now that he wasn't moving, the shadows got closer and closer, just about ready to throw their weapons down on him when they vanished. _

_A white gloved hand was the first thing Sonic saw when he opened his eye that he had closed when impacting the floor. Slowly looking up, he saw that the hand belonged to Shadow. Hesitantly, Sonic took the hand and allowed Shadow to pull him up onto his feet. "Thanks," he murmured before turning around to see if the shadows were there or not. When he turned Shadow had begun walking away and when the blue anthro attempted to chase after him he found that there was an invisible barrier preventing him from going any further. "Hey Shadow? Shadow? Shadow!" he cried, pounding his fist on the barrier. "__**SHADOW!"**_

Sonic jolter up from where he sat on the couch in the lounge. He hastily looked around only to find that he was alone. Sitting back in his seat, he placed a hand on his head. "That's right..." he said quietly to himself. "You're only here to help me back to my feet...nothing more..."

He sat in his seat for a good few hours, doing nothing but staring at the blank wall. A sigh escaped tanned lips as the blue hedgehog stood and headed over to the kitchen. He needed to do something other than sit on the couch all day doing nothing. He looked through the fridge, cupboard and drawers, only to find nothing that could keep him occupied. Then again what, other than food, could keep you occupied in a kitchen? Dragging his feet back to the lounge, Sonic threw himself on the couch. He glanced around the room and couldn't help but feel a sort of emptiness. But why? Was it because Shadow wasn't there? Maybe...Whenever the dark hedgehog was there then there was always something to do, but whenever he wasn't...its self explanatory. Another question was why he felt that way when Shadow wasn't around. Before the...incident…Sonic never minded being alone and by himself. But now he hated it. Perhaps it as because he was alone when _it_ happened and he felt insecure. Growling, Sonic picked up a cushion and threw it across the room, accidentally knocking over a vase, dirt pouring out of it onto the floor. "When did Shadow have a vase there?" pondered Sonic as he stood and went to get the pan and brush to clean it up.

After clearing up the vase and dirt, Sonic wandered over to the window and glanced outside. He needed to be outside; the fresh air would help clear his head. Unlocking the glass barrier, Sonic opened it and stood on the windowsill before climbing up to the roof of the apartment block. When he reached the top he sat down and sighed as the cool wind hit him. He looked down at the ground, unfazed by how high up he was, and noticed that a small number of people were looking up at him in shock. After all people, nor anthros, usually climb out of the window that is high up and make their way to the roof. Shrugging, he lay back, placing his arms behind his head in a lazy fashion as he stared up at the clouds.

- - -

The next thing he knew was that he was lying on his side. That and it was dark. Sitting up, Sonic rubbed his tired eye before glancing around. Since it as dark, just about every light in the city was lit, illuminating everything for miles. He looked down, noting the cars that were going past with headlights on. "What time is it...?" he asked no one in particular, and not expecting an answer.

"Past seven o'clock."

Sonic literally jumped a spun around so fast that he lost his balance and fell over the edge of the building. A hand quickly grabbed his and pulled him back. Glancing up, he saw a certain hedgehog that didn't look happy. "Thanks Shads," he said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Shadow frowned. "I came back two hours ago to find you weren't there, _again_. You really should stop disappearing like that."

Giving the other hedgehog a curious look, he asked, "Why?"

The frown on his face deepened. "What do you mean 'why'? In case you've forgotten I've been put in charge of you until you recover and if anything were to happen to you then I'd probably get sued or something."

Sonic suddenly found that he was being tugged towards a door that lead back to the inside of the apartment block. He glanced down at the hand that was holding his, suddenly feeling his cheeks flush. Did Shadow know that he was still holding his hand? He looked at it again, noticing how his hand fit in Shadow's just perfectly. The red on his cheeks darkening and Sonic shook his head and looked ahead. As soon as Shadow opened the door to his apartment he pulled Sonic in front of him, causing him to stumble into the lounge. "Was that really necessary?"

"Oh you found him," a feminine voice rang out. Sonic looked to see Rouge sat on the couch with a mug of coffee in her hands. "I told you not get all wound up and worried about him.

Blinking, Sonic looked over at Shadow who was locking the front door. He cocked his head to one side. Shadow was worried?

"I was _not_ worried," Shadow quickly said.

"Yeah sure you weren't, hun." Rouge leaned back in her seat and took a sip from her coffee. "So where did you wonder of to, blue boy?"

Sonic took a seat next to Rouge and shrugged. "Just the roof. What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to come and give you a check up. You know just to see how things are going." The bat then looked up at Shadow. "Make a coffee for him. It's freezing outside."

An emerald eye watched as the shadowy hedgehog exited the room into the kitchen. Fingers brushing against the side of his head caused him to flinch and jump back. The white bat quickly leaned back, her hands in front of her defensively. "Whoa! Hey!" she cried.

Sonic sighed and relaxed a little. "Sorry," he said apologetically, staring at a blank spot in the room.

Rouge studied Sonic's expression, trying to figure out what was running through the hedgehog's mind at that moment in time. "Its fine," she replied, a slight hint of sympathy in her voice. _'After all, it is to be expected after what you've been through.'_ "Let me just take a little peek, 'kay?"

A gloved hand clasped the handle of kettle and poured the boiling water into the mug. He picked up the spoon that lay next to it and stirred the liquid. When he thought it was ready, he picked it up by the handle and carried it into the lounge. He entered to see that Sonic was straightening his patch while the snow bat was routing through the midnight blue bag that sat next to her. He walked over the azure furry and offered the coffee to him.

Sonic grinned lightly and took the mug, blowing on it before taking a sip. He quickly pulled it away and stuck his tongue out. "Hot!" he cried, and frowned at Rouge as she burst out laughing. "I'th not thunny!" That only provoked the bat to laugh more.

Shadow watch the scene before him, finding that for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of the royal blue hedgehog that sat on the couch. Seeing him with a pout on his face and his tongue sticking out just seemed kind of...cute.

**WHAT!!!???**

Shadow mentally slapped himself and tore his eyes away from Sonic, choosing to look at a blank space in the room. His muzzle had turned a light pink at the sudden though that had entered his mind back then. What was he thinking!? Sonic cute? Since when did the Ultimate Lifeform: Shadow the Hedgehog ever thought that his rival was _cute?_

The snow white bat's glistening eyes sipped over to where Shadow stood and noticed the faint color on his muzzle as he quickly looked away from Sonic, the usual scowl on his face. She looked back over to Sonic who was risking another sip of his drink, this time managing to not burn himself, and frowned. Why had Shadow blushed after looking at Sonic...? Could he...? ...Nah. Shadow couldn't have a _crush_ on the blue hedgehog could he? They had been living together for a while and had to help Sonic recover. Then again two guys can be flat mates for about ten years and just be friends. She looked down at her empty mug, lost in thought for a moment or two. When she looked back up she held out her empty mug to Shadow. "Here, you can wash this now." She received a glare from Shadow, as per usual, before he took it and left to the kitchen. Now was her chance. Remember before when she was rooting around in her bag?

"Take these."

Sonic looked at the small pot the Rouge held out and took a hold of it. Glancing over the label his eyes widened and he gave her an odd look. "Anti-depressants?"

Rouge nodded lightly. "It's just incase. I mean after all you have been through a lot recently. It's for your own good." She closed her bag as her ear twitched. She put a finger to her mouth. "Our little secret, 'kay? Now hide them."

Quickly stashing the pot deep in his quills, Sonic looked up as Shadow came back in. He took another sip of his coffee and relaxed a little. His thoughts drifted to the pot he had just been given. Sonic was more of the type who took the herbal medicines, and even then he only ever took them if his life depended on it or something. But these pills...would they actually help him?

Standing up, Rouge stretched before grabbing her bag. "Well I guess that everything," she stated. She then turned to Sonic. "Give it a few more days and just about all of your wounds should be healed. You can go home."

Sonic managed to trick her with a fake smile. "Great," he said with false happiness.

Although he had fooled Rouge, he had failed to trick Shadow. He liked over at the blue hedgehog with a curious frown. He would have thought that Sonic would be happy that he could go home. At least he wouldn't have Shadow telling him what to do and what not to do again. If that was the case then why was he lying?

"_I do have a home of my own, you know. I just rarely use it. Kind of gets a bit lonely."_

Those words rang through Shadow's head as he remembered the conversation the two hedgehogs had had at the kitchen table. But couldn't Sonic just go and stay with Tails? Even if Tails was too busy with his inventions they would see each other at some point. Then that, however, would be like living on your own and visiting a friend in some way.

Rouge gave Sonic a smirk. "How you've managed to put up this long with him I'll never know," she said, pointing with her thumb at the darker hedgehog. "Anyway I have to leave now. Ba-bye!" She then proceeded to the door and left the apartment.

Shadow went over to the window and looked down, just to make sure that the bat had actually left and wasn't eavesdropping on them. He recalled one time where she had been stood outside the door for almost the whole day because she thought he had a girl in the apartment with him. _'As if that would ever happen,'_ he thought to himself. "What did she give you."

Blue ears perked up at the question. "Huh? Oh you mean Rouge?" he asked.

Turning around, Shadow replied, "She gave you a pot with something in it. What was it?"

Sonic waved a hand. "Nothing really. Just a few things I need to take. I can keep track of when I need them myself."

"If it's medical wise you should have told me straight away."

"I­–It's nothing, Shadow!" Sonic insisted, a little nervous. What on earth would Shadow think when he saw the pot of ant-depressants Rouge had given him? Looking for an excuse to either change the subject or leave the room, an emerald orb landed on his mug. "You know I'm not really in the mood for anymore coffee," he said before standing up and heading quickly towards the kitchen. He poured the liquid down the sink and placed the mug in the bowl to wash later. When he turned he saw Shadow. _'Not really surprising.'_

"You're lying hedgehog!" the ebony one growled, crossing his arms over his chest. Sonic was hiding something and he needed to find out what it was. Why he needed to...he didn't know. But Sonic _wasn't_ going to get away.

Rolling his eyes, Sonic slowly walked past Shadow. "I told you already, it was nothing," he said.

Right as Sonic had past him he called his name, making the other turn around. Taking the opportunity he had, he charged at Sonic, grabbing a hold of his arms and pinning him to the wall.

Sonic fell against the wall with an 'oof'. He looked at Shadow with a mix of confusion and annoyance. "Sh–Shadow! What gives!?" he cried, trying to squirm free of the grasp.

Shadow only tightened his grip on the anthro's arms and leaned in a little, making Sonic's cheeks flare at the closeness. "I've asked you already," he said in a quiet, stern voice. "Now answer me. What did she give you?"

Closing his eye, Sonic hoped that not seeing that other so close to him would stop the blush on his cheeks. Yet he could still feel Shadow's breath. He suddenly found himself wincing a little as Shadow's grip tightened further. Heaving a sigh, Sonic reopened his eye and looked at Shadow's ruby once. "She gave me...She gave me some anti-depressants," he replied truthfully, hoping that Shadow would believe him.

The darker hedgehog's features somewhat softened and he loosened his grip on Sonic's arms, yet he didn't let go. It would be understandable if Sonic were to fall into depression. He had already noticed that the blue blur had acted a little differently since the day he woke up in his bedroom. He bowed his head a little and looked to the side. "I...I may not be one for talking a lot...but I am willing to listen. If there is anything that's bothering you...just..." His eyes went back to Sonic so that the other would know that he was being serious. "Just come find me. I'll listen...I promise..."

Sonic's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened a little. _'What's this feeling...?'_ he asked himself, feeling a sort of fuzzy feeling in his stomach. As he continued to look into Shadow's shining garnet eyes he felt his heart beating faster. _'Wh–Why am I feeling like this?'_ Shadow's words echoed in his mind. _"Just come find me. I'll listen...I promise..."_ Hearing those words seemed to awoken an odd feeling that was slightly unfamiliar to Sonic. Being told that someone would listen to him...He had never spoken about his problems to others before. He didn't want to burden them as they had never offered. But after Shadow...he felt a somewhat relief. Sonic gave Shadow a true, good-hearted smile. "Thank you."

Shadow finally let go of Sonic's arms and looked away, feeling his muzzle heat up again. "Yeah, whatever," he mumbled before leaving the kitchen.

As soon as Shadow had left, Sonic's smile faded. He brought a hand up to his chest, close to his heart. "That feeling..." he shook his head. "No...It can't..."

- - -

Purple wings continuously flapped, never missing a beat as the snowy bat flew up to the floating island that was high up in the sky. It was times like this when she was thankful that she had wings. "Why the hell did that shrine have to be on a _floating _island?" Rouge whined, passing through a cloud as he continued to ascend. She sighed in relief when she came face to face with the island. After flying for a little bit longer she swooped down in front of a familiar echidna.

The dreadlocked echidna glanced at the female, noting how tired she looked. "You know you shouldn't push yourself," he said, a hint of concern in his voice.

Rouge waved a hand. "I'm perfectly fine," she replied, taking a seat next to Knuckles. "I would have been home about an hour ago but Sonic pulled a disappearing act. And apparently that was the second times."

"Wait, what? You went to see Sonic?" asked Knuckles. After seeing him in hospital that time he had done nothing but worry about him. He knew that Sonic was always getting into trouble. But none of those time compared to what he saw.

Giving a light nod, the bat replied, "Yeah the hospital wanted me to go and check on how he was doing. He's seems to be doing fine but that's only on the outside. I don't even want to imagine how he is on the inside."

Knuckles heaved a sigh leaned back. "And he's doing alright with Shadow, right?"

A gloved hand slapped the echidna on the back and a laugh escaped Rouge's painted lips. "You're such as fuss-pot."

"I am not!"

Casting her greeny-colored eyes, off into the dark sky, Rouge smiled softly. "You can't deny it. You are 100% fussy. And to answer your question...I'd say he's in good hands."

- - -

Sonic lay in the double bed, hugging the pillow close to him while looking out of the window. He had been laying there for almost an hour now. He sat up suddenly and glanced around. Shadow was still about the apartment somewhere, meaning that he was left alone. His mind was still racing about the fuzzy feeling he had earlier. Hugging the pillow closer to him, he pondered as to why it happened at that moment. Being told that you can talk to someone isn't really all that special, isn't it? People talk all the time.

A chill ran down the confused hedgehog's spine. Glancing around again, he realized how...lonely the room felt. For almost a week his look-alike had slept on the other side of the bed. _'I guess it's because he isn't here,' _Sonic concluded. He lay back down, the pillow still close to him, and stared at the ceiling. Why...why did he feel lonely every time Shadow wasn't around?

The door suddenly opened and light from the hall cake the floor and up to the bed. Just as Shadow thought, the faker was asleep in bed (Sonic had quickly closed his eyes when the door opened). He flicked the light switch in the hall and made his way over to the bed. It was when he pulled the covers back that he noticed Sonic was clinging to his pillow again. And so Shadow yet again found that he couldn't take his eyes away from the small blue figure. It wasn't until the other groaned and snuggled up to his pillow, ears flattening, that Shadow realized what he was doing and immediately got into bed, facing away from Sonic.

After feeling the extra weight on the other side of the bed Sonic waited a few minutes before reopening his eye, only to see a mess of black and red quills. Sonic couldn't help but let a small smile play on his lips. Almost instantly the room didn't feel as cold or lonely anymore.

- - -

Now, however, it did feel cold. Or was that just Shadow. His ungloved hand went to reach for the covers, hoping to pull them over him more, only to find that they weren't there. He sat up and rubbed his head, eyes half lidded from being tired. He looked at the other end of the bed and spotted the ends of the covers that fell over the edge. He crawled over and looked down, finding the rest of the covers and something he didn't really expect to see. Sonic lay curled up in a ball with the cover wrapped around him and a peaceful, sleep-filled expression on his face.

Shadow sighed and leaned over to nudge the sleeping hog. The only result he got was Sonic curling up more. He frowned and tried again yet got the same result. It was then he spotted a glass of water on the bedside table that Sonic must have left. A black hand picked it up and poured it over Sonic's head.

As soon as the liquid touched his fur Sonic instantly awoke and jumped up, moving over to the wall and pressing his back up against it, a shocked expression on his face. He shook his head to try and shake some of the water off and looked around. When he saw Shadow holding the empty glass with an expression that was a mixture of shock, amusement and something else. "What the hell was that for!?" Sonic yelled, stepping away from the wall and giving Shadow a glare.

"You were asleep," Shadow replied, simply before standing and leaving the room. He went to the nearest clock in the house and noticed that he was running pretty late. _'No time for breakfast,'_ he thought and went over to put his shoes on.

Sonic poked his head through the hall door. "You're leaving already?" he asked as Shadow put on his black coat.

"I'm late." He rushed past Sonic, almost forgetting that he hadn't put his gloves on before leaving.

"Well bye, then..." Sonic sighed and decided to grab a bite to eat. He paused on his way to the kitchen and looked back at the door, once again feeling as though the apartment was empty without the darker hedgehog. Sonic shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts about Shadow from his mind. "He's just helping me back to my feet...Nothing more..."

- - -

**New chapter completed. As you can see it was more about Sonic than Shadow (upon a special someone's request ;) )Please review and thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 8

- - -

**Chapter 8:**** Could It Be...?**

A sigh passed through pale peach lips as the snowy white hedgehog rinsed the water out of a yellow sponge into a bucket. Of course she loved her grandfather but making her stand outside in such freezing weather to wash the windows was just ridiculous. Even with her feather filled pink coat and a white scarf around her neck she was still cold. A shiver ran down her spine as she began rubbing the grime and dirt off of the window. It was so cold that she could see her breath in front of her face. Her ears twitched upon hearing the door to the café open and was about to give her usual 'thank you, come again' saying until she spotted who it was. Placing the sponge back into the soapy water she rinsed it out before turning to the black and red striped hedgehog who stood by the door, his usual blank look on his face. "Heya, Shadow," she greeted. "How come you're out here?"

"You're grandfather asked me to tell you to go back inside. Said it was too cold to be out," Shadow said simply. Just by looking at the female hedgie you could tell that she was pretty cold. That was to be expected though, as normally temperature changes didn't have as much of an affect on Shadow as with others and at the moment it was pretty cold to him.

Belle blinked in slight confusion. First her grandfather had told her to come outside because the windows needed cleaning now he was saying to come back inside. That old man could never properly make up his mind. Shaking her head, Belle quickly said, "No. These windows need doing. I'll come in once they're done." Grabbing the sponge again she resumed washing the window.

Sighing, Shadow strolled over to her and swiftly swiped the sponge from the girl's hand. "Its cold, go inside," he said sternly. He gave Belle a shove towards the café door. "I've pretty much done everything Gord asked me to do. I'll finish the windows up for you."

Making a small 'oof' as she was pushed towards the door, Belle momentarily frowned but it faded when Shadow said that he would finish her job for her. Turning back to the ebony anthro she saw that he had already got to work. She was about to object to him when Gord tapped on the window and made a motion with his hand, telling her to come inside. Taking one last looked at Shadow, who didn't at all seem bothered by the cold, she went inside.

- - -

Dumping the now dirty sponge into the bucket of equally dirty water, Shadow made a small 'hmph' sound. He had basically spent the remainder of his working hours on those blasted windows. His fingers were nearly frozen and parts of him where water had dripped made his fur wet. It was no wonder Gord had told that girl to go back inside. Picking up a towel that sat near the bucket, that had thing layers of frost on some patches, he dried his ungloved hands. The café door opening caught his attention, although he didn't turn to look. If it was just some random customer then they would leave. But if it was someone who wanted him they would address him. And it was the latter of the two as Belle's soft voice called out to Shadow. Now he turned to find that it was in fact the white hedgehog, two mugs of steaming coffee in her hands.

"Thank you _so_ much for doing the windows for me," the smaller hedgehog thanked, walking up to Shadow who just gave her a nod that said 'no problem' or something along those lines. She offered one of the mugs to him and smiled. "Here. Like you said earlier, it's cold. This should warm you up."

Without question, Shadow took the mug, taking a sip of it and almost shivering as he drank the warm liquid. He glanced at Belle, seeing that she was still there only now leaning against the window with one foot up against the brick underneath it while drinking her own coffee. Shadow thought that she should really go back inside, although, like most times, didn't voice his concerns. Although...there was one whom he had been voicing his concerns to quite often recently. He wondered why that was, as he didn't do so before the...incident. But the blue hedgehog was still recovering. Still, it didn't explain why he did it.

"Um...Shadow?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, said male looked over to where his name was called by the white and pink hedgehog. "Hm?"

Belle looked down at her feet, her muzzle tinting just the slightest, although she looked kind of sad. Why was that? "Tomorrow's going to be your last day on the trial...If grandpa decides that he doesn't wish to hire you...then I may not see you again..." She put her foot back in the ground and shuffled her feet slightly. "So I though that maybe we could do something together after work. If that's okay with you."

Shadow listened to the other's words and took another sip from the coffee. Spend time with her? They barely knew each other. Closing his eyes, he replied simply, "I have things to attend to tomorrow." Reopening his eyes he looked over at her and took note of the sad look in her eyes. He wasn't sure what came over him but with another sigh he looked at a random cat (normal not anthro) atop of a trashcan across the street and added, "But not the next day..."

Belle's sad eyes suddenly lit up. "Really!? Great! We'll have a blast, I promise." This was brilliant! Shadow had agreed to do something, and with her, too! But hold on, if they were going out somewhere, then wouldn't that kind of be a date? Belle's muzzle suddenly turned crimson at the thought.

A loud knocking on the window from the other side caught both Shadow and Belle's attention. Gord was pounding a fist on the glass and then waving a finger at Belle who just smiled sheepishly at him and moved away from the glass she was leaning on. Gord suddenly pointed to both of them and then tapped his watched, telling them both that their shift had ended.

Giving a friendly salute to her elder, Belle gave another smile to Shadow. "How about we meet at the park that day, then? I'll tell you a time tomorrow."

Nodding to Belle, Shadow headed back inside the warm café, quickly drinking the rest of his coffee and washing it out before heading to the staff room and grabbed his coat. After buttoning the black coat up, he gave another nod to Gord, this one saying 'goodbye', he left without another word. His shift for the day was supposed to end at around 5 at night, so he guessed it was around that time, for only a complete imbecile wouldn't be able to guess that. His garnet eyes turned to the sky and a frown spread across Shadow's face. Raven clouds were circling above, not a good sign. A little further ahead on one of the large screens on a building was issuing a storm warning. Great. No wonder there wasn't many people out on the street. The storm was apparently predicted to rage any time between tonight and the approaching week, meaning that he would have to get supplies.

Turning another corner he soon spotted the apartment block he lived at and quickened his pace, finding that the cold weather was quite uncomfortable. He was hit by a burst of warmth when he opened the door to his home. That blue idiot must have the heaters turned on. Closing the door and locking it he hung up his coat, as he usually did when returning from somewhere. He frowned upon seeing that the television was switched on, yet there were no signs of anyone in the lounge. On the table in front of the couch was a plate with bread crumbs, some of which had been knocked onto the table itself, and next to it was a half empty glass of water. Judging by the messiness of it Shadow concluded that Sonic had made the mess and didn't bother clearing up after himself. Speaking of the faker...where was he...? If that idiot had decided to go off somewhere while he was out again so help him, for Shadow would do something to him that would make him _want_ to leave.

Deciding to check the kitchen, Shadow almost did a double take. The room was an absolute mess! Different types of food and condiments were sprawled across the floor and kitchen tops. What appeared to be spots of mayo were splattered across the cupboard doors. The stove had scorch marks all around it; on the wall, the floor, and the stove itself. But what really baffled Shadow was how the slices of tomato were stuck to the ceiling. It was official. Sonic. Was. Going. To. Die!

A black pointed ear twitched, hearing a door in the hall open. A scowl on his face Shadow went back into the lounge and found Sonic walking in from the hall, rubbing a towel on his head. He grinned when he saw the furious black hedgehog, but it faltered slightly when he saw the scowl on Shadow's face. "What's up buddy?" he questioned, placing the now damp towel on the back of the couch.

"'What's up'?" repeated the darker hedgehog. "'What's _up'_!? I'll tell you 'what's up'! The kitchen is a complete mess! It wasn't like that before I left. Care to explain how it got in such a state?"

Sonic almost flinched at the venom in Shadow's voice. "I was...making lunch...?" he replied, grinning nervously and giving a shrug. He had a feeling that he was in _big_ trouble.

The scowl only deepened at the blue hedgehog's answer. He moved over to the other and roughly grabbed his arm, dragging him into the kitchen. He stopped just at the entrance, not letting go of the peach arm in his grasp. "You call _this_ making lunch!?" he spat.

"I was gonna clean it up!" Sonic quickly said, trying to pry free from the hand that had a tight hold on his arm.

Giving the younger hedgehog a quick glare, Shadow let go of the arm and headed over to the sink, turning the hot tap on and squirting some liquid soap in the bowl before turning to Sonic. "_You_ are going to clean this up _now_!" Being careful not to get mayo on him as he opened one of the cupboards under the sink, he pulled out a scrubbing brush, placing it into the bowl and switching the tap of now that the bowl was completely filled with soapy water. "Get to it!" he ordered before leaving the room and seating himself on the couch in the lounge.

Heaving a sigh, the blue furry thought it best to get on with it. Ears drooping slightly, he grabbed the scrubbing brush and then looked around the kitchen, wondering just _where_ should he start to clean.

- - -

Opening his eyes, Shadow noticed that it suddenly seemed a lot darker. The television, which was still on, was the only source of light within the dark lounge. Casting his gaze to the clock, he sighed when he noticed that it was past eleven at night. He must have fallen asleep. Over the sound of the television Shadow's acute hearing could pick up the faint sounds of scrubbing. Was Sonic still cleaning up the kitchen? There was only one way to find out. Getting to his feet he approached the entrance to the kitchen, and glanced around, taking not that it was almost spotless.

Almost being the key word.

Taking a few steps into the room, Shadow's attention drove to the stove, where nearly all of the scorch marks were gone. But it wasn't that that caught his attention. What caught his attention was the blue hedgehog on his hands and knees, scrubbing the black marks with the brush Shadow had provided earlier. The light was not switched on in the room so it was hard for Shadow to see the blue hedgehog properly. But he guessed that Sonic would be pretty tired. The other must have been working on cleaning this room up for hours and yet here he still was, no complaints, no winging, no whines. Just getting the job done. "You should go to bed..."

Sonic simply shook his head, not pausing or even looking up at his counterpart. His focus was cleaning the room. "I made the mess...I clean it..."

He almost sounded like Belle earlier. The tiredness in Sonic's voice caused Shadow to frown briefly. "You've been cleaning all this time. You're tired and should get some rest."

Again Sonic shook his head as he dabbed the brush in the bowl which he had placed next to him before going back to cleaning up the scorch marks.

Sighing, Shadow paced over to Sonic and bent down, about to pulled the other hedgehog up but paused when he saw the look on the other's face. Not only had Sonic sounded tired but he also looked it. There were bags under his eye which was half lidded. Shaking of the slight shock of it, he grabbed Sonic by the arm again and lifted him to his feet, the surprise of the movement causing the blue furry to drop the brush. "I _said_ you should go to bed," he said sternly. Now that the other was stood up he was tall enough for the light of the moon that managed to peek through the clouds shone on his rival and only now did he notice how filthy the azure and peach pelt was. "And take shower beforehand." To make sure that Sonic didn't go back to trying to clean up again, he grabbed the other's gloveless hand (Sonic had taken his gloves off so that he didn't get the dirty) and lead him to the bathroom.

Sonic didn't know if it was because of the drowsiness but he didn't object to Shadow grabbing his hand but instead lightly tightened it. His cheeks turned a light pink as he did so. This wasn't the first time he had noticed that Shadow and his hand fit together perfectly, almost like a two halves of a whole. He was so caught up in this fact that he hadn't realized until now that he now stood alone in the bathroom with the light on, door closed, and shower running.

- - -

_Everything was black. How predictable. This was Shadow's dream, after all. When they weren't ones of the past they usually began like this. Bt of course Shadow didn't actually know he was dreaming like most people, but we're drifting away from the plot here. __Anyway, everything around the ebony hedgehog was black. Despite there being no floor below him a gray outline of himself was present beneath him. (To think about it, it was much like the way Sonic's dream had started in the last chapter). Shadow stared at the empty area he was in. It reminded him of just how alone he was and will always be. He was destined to be alone. _

"_Shadow!"_

_That voice. He knew it well. That annoying pest _had_ been living with him for about two weeks now. Turning, he barely had time to catch a blue hedgehog behind just under the arms. The blue one, better known as Sonic, buried his head in Shadow's chest fuzz. What was going on? Was the other hurt? Suddenly he found himself becoming very worried about his rival. "S...Sonic...? What happened?" Sonic's head slowly lifted, looking up at his caregiver, Shadow's eyes widened at the expression. His emerald eye was glassy, as if tears were on the verge of falling and his cheeks were flushed. Just the sight of the azure furry made his muzzle turn many shades of red. "S—Sonic..."_

"_Shadow..." The tone made Shadow's blush deepen as the name rolled of the other's tongue. He nuzzled his head in the crook of Shadow's neck. "...I _want_ you...Shadow..."_

The black hedgehog sat upright, sweat dripping from his body and his face an even deeper color than in his dream. That dream. _Why_ did he dream of such a thing!? There was no _way_ he felt like that towards the other hedgehog...right? Massaging his head, Shadow sighed before looking around the room. It was still dark out meaning that it was still pretty early in the morning. Ruby eyes turned to look down at the sleeping hedgehog besides him and he felt his face heat up again as the Sonic in his dream flashed through his mind. He quickly turned away and covered his face in his hands; completely embarrassed at the fact he dreamt Sonic had said such a thing to him. He risked taking another look at Sonic, slowly pulling his hands away. Sonic looked so peaceful when he slept and not to mention fragile. His thin body, guard completely dropped, lay on his back with one arm wrapped around his middle while the other was pulled up to rest by his head that slightly faced towards the ebony hedgehog. Shadow found himself mesmerized by his rival as he studied him from what wasn't covered by the covers. He examined every detail, every trace on the speedster's face as he inched closer to him. He knew he was blushing, put he just couldn't tear his eyes away. It wasn't until he realized that his mouth was hovering right over Sonic's slightly parted lips that he quickly pulled away, eyes wide and again covering his face with his hands.

Why had he dreamt such a dream? Why had he been so mesmerized by the blue hedgehog's body? Why had he been that close to him? It was hurting Shadow's head just thinking about it. But he needed an answer. No matter how many times he tried to think of one, though, he got the same answer. But it couldn't be...But it was the only answer.

'_I'm in love...with _Sonic!!!'

- - -

**Yeah I know...it went towards Shadow again. Ah well, at least we're finally starting to get somewhere with the romance. After all this is a romance/drama fic...and many other genres...THE WEBSITE WOULD ONLY LET ME CHOOSE TWO so I had to choose them. Hopefully, that being the key word, I should have another chapter up soon. Again I apologize for the lateness but with school, events, me being peed off with the fact that everyone is dying their hair red when I've wanted to do it for years and when I finally do it I look like I'm following the crowd, and many other shit in life! **

**But for now, this is Tsukimomo saying that she hoped you all had a wonderful Christmas and good luck in this New Year.**


	10. Chapter 9

- - -

**Chapter 9: No...It's Not**

How could it be so? Sonic was his rival; _rival_! Rivals were supposed to fight each other, argue, and maybe try to kill each other. Not this...Not fall in love with them. It just wasn't right. But...maybe he didn't love him. Maybe he was just confused. Yeah. That was it. He _had_ had a lot on his mind recently. Plus Sonic had been staying at his apartment for a while now. Perhaps his subconscious was trying to tell him that it was time for Sonic to leave. _'By giving me these creepy nightmares.' _Shadow sighed and continued to massage his forehead. His cheeks still felt pretty hot so they were probably still flushed. Again the Sonic in his dream flashed through his mind, only making his heart rate faster than what it already was. No...He wouldn't accept it...It wasn't true...So there's no point in accepting it.

Damn it, all this thinking was giving him a migraine. He needed some air. Slipping out of the bed, the confused ebony hedgehog made his way over to the window, opening it up and sighing as the cold air hit his flushed face. Now that he was getting some fresh air he could think more clearly. That dream meant nothing. It was just one of those silly little things that your mind suddenly decides to play like when you dream you are being chased by hotdogs or that the moon is made of cheese.

Yes, he admitted that he was more talkative to the azure furry and yes, he did feel more comfortable around him but that was only because they had been living together for quite some time now. And the other appeared to be pretty comfortable around him. Although...he did still hide things from him. That got on his nerves slightly. He didn't know why but it did. But he guessed that Sonic did have his reasons, as he himself did.

It appeared that cold air had awoken a slumbering someone. Rolling onto his side, a peach hand grabbed the covers, wrapping them around him tighter. Why was it so cold? He needed to know. Opening his single tired emerald orb he gazed around the room. Everything seemed normal besides the open window and Shadow stood in front of it...Wait...Sitting up, Sonic rubbed his eye and looked over at the silhouette of the ebony hedgehog. No wonder it was so cold. Not only was Shadow not in the bed, which Sonic had found out that it was much warmer when Shadow was in the bed, and the window was wide open. But the room was so cold. Why would Shadow want it open? Tilting his head to one side, he called out the other's name.

Upon hearing the soft voice, Shadow froze momentarily, the dream coming back to mind. He quickly shook his head before relying, "What is it?" but didn't turn to face the other. Since he was right by the window the light was hitting him dead on, and if Sonic saw his blush then he would start asking questions and if he started asking questions and Shadow decided not to answer he would be persistent and still ask and if that happened then he may not have a choice and... Calm down...calm down...He hadn't turned around so Sonic didn't see it so he wouldn't ask questions and be persistent...right?

Looking down at a random spot on the covers Sonic rubbed his arms that had goose pimple underneath the fur. "It's cold," he murmured.

Ah...He hadn't thought of that. He guessed that his entire body was a little flushed, for it felt almost like a sauna in there for him. But Sonic was cold. And having the window open was not at all helping. He sighed, hoping that his blush was at least not as noticeable as it probably was earlier, or better still gone, as he closed the window and muttered sorry before getting back into the bed. As much as he tried to rid his mind of the dream he found that he couldn't. Maybe the thought he had earlier was correct .Maybe the dream was a warning. Shadow wasn't meant to get close to anyone. That's how its always been in his life, and he knew that it would never change. "Err...hey..." he addressed the blue hedgehog, hoping that he hadn't fallen asleep already.

After Shadow had returned to the bed, Sonic lied back down, noticing a sudden change in temperature. It was much warmer now and he knew where it was coming from. He could literally feel the heat radiating off of the black hedgehog besides him. He attempted to move a little closer to him without being noticed to try and get a little warmer. Surely Shadow wouldn't mind right? He was cold, no, freezing. The moment he shifted an inch the black and red hedgehog spoke, making Sonic stop before quickly shifting back to where he was, hoping that he hadn't been noticed. "Y-Yeah?" he asked, trying to stop his cheeks from going red at the thought of being caught trying to get close to Shadow.

"Your injuries...they're almost completely healed," stated Shadow, still facing away from Sonic. "You're free to go whenever you want...I won't stop you anymore."

Sonic gave a small frown but then smirked. "'You're free to go'? You make it sound like I'm your prisoner."

"But haven't you been? Think about it for a moment. Whenever you decided to do something that is...you...I always ran after you...brought you back here."

Sitting up, the blue hedgehog did think about it. True, Shadow _had_ run about the whole city just to bring him back to his home. But he was his caregiver. He had to make sure that he healed, not get worse. If he did get worse then Shadow would be in big trouble. Maybe saying that he was a 'prisoner' may be the only way Shadow could think of to hide the fact that he actually cared about him. He cared about Shadow...In a friendly rival type way of course! He had no other feelings towards him right? But then why was it that his face often turned red when his double was close to him. The time he had taken his bandages off around his eye he had blushed. Why!? It had been secretly driving him around the twist for a long time now.

"I was right...wasn't I..."

Sonic's head snapped up and he looked over at Shadow's back. Oh, that was right. He was meant to be thinking about how he was a supposed prisoner, not feelings. "Not really. I didn't mind. It's only classed as being a prisoner if you're keeping me here against my will."

A 'hmph' came from Shadow before he muttered, "That's stupid. How could you stand to put up with me holding you back here for so long?"

Sonic rolled his eyes at Shadow even though he knew that the other couldn't see it. "I've put up with you and your mood for so long now I've gotten used to it."

"So I am someone who people must to put up with then."

"N-No! Of course not! I mean...maybe a little..." Sonic paused there. "But its that trait about you that makes people like you—I'm not helping at all am I?"

"No."

Sonic sighed and looked at the covers. He felt too awake now to go back to sleep. He shifted around so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He took a quick glance at Shadow before standing. "But just so you know...Its that trait that makes me like you," he said, leaving the room straight after.

Ruby eyes widened slightly when he heard Sonic. He quickly sat up, wanting to say something, although he wasn't sure what, only to find an empty room. He sighed. Why was it that everyone left him? But how was Sonic supposed to know that he wanted to say something? And what did the speed demon mean when he said that? Oh he was getting a migraine again (and probably beet red as well).

Thought blue anthro was on his way to the bathroom, relieving himself, washing his hands and then headed to the kitchen. Opening the fridge Sonic peeked inside about to grab something to eat but paused, remembering what had happened the last time he had tried to prepare something to eat and just closed the fridge door with a sigh. He headed into the lounge, walking over to the window and looking down at the city below. Everything below the building was just moving along. Going. And soon he would be too. Away from Shadow...

Oh, what did he care! Shdaow was just a rival...friend? He had looked out for him over the past couple of weeks...put that was his duty. Shadow was told to look after him. But then he did take care of him _before_ he had been told to. He could have just left him, allowed him to die in that horrible rain. But he didn't. Oh! He was so confused!

Pushing the window open the blue hedgehog sat himself upon the cill and stared down at the vesicles passing, slightly wishing that he could run with them, against them, past them at super sonic speed. Running free. Urgh, he needed to get out soon. Staying inside was making him soft, weak. He needed out and soon. But for now he would just have to sit and was until he was given the proper go-ahead to leave.

- - -

Groggy ruby eyes slowly opened as the morning light bathed the room. Bringing a hand up to rub his tired eyes Shadow groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Oh, damn what time was it? The black and red hedgehog looked over to the bedside table to try and answer his question but stopped. On the bedside table, instead of a clock, was the remaining pieces from his last clock of which he had smashed the other day and still hadn't leaned up. "Oh f-" Shadow quickly got up and rushed out into the lounge, looking over at the clock and his fur a complete mess. A sigh of relief passed through his lips when he saw that he was up an hour before he was meant to. A chill suddenly ran down his spine. Why was it so cold? The heating was on.

Looking over at the window he found the source of the cold air. Sonic still sat on the window sill, leaning against the side of the window now, appearing to be looking out at the city. As Shadow moved closer he noted that the blue furry's eyes were closed. Was he asleep? Again? But...why on the window? Wasn't Sonic freezing? Reaching a hand out, about to shake the speedster's shoulder, but let his hand stay on the shoulder as he realized how cold he was. Shaking his own head before waking the other.

Sonic jumped awake enough to make his body lean forward and slip off of the cill. Shadow acted quickly and grabbed his wrist to stop the blue hedgehog from falling. "You moron!" the ebony hedgehog yelled. "What the hell do you thinking! Falling asleep on a _windowsill!?_"

"Hey I didn't plan on falling asleep," Sonic snapped back.

The striped hedgehog quickly pulled Sonic back up, both of them landing on the floor, Shadow on his back, Sonic on top of him. A blush spread across Sonic's muzzle at this and he quicklu looked away from the hedgehog's face, completely embaressed by the position. Underneath him, Shadow was getting pretty much the same feeling he had the night before when he had just been hovering above Sonic (and had his realization). No. No. No. NO. _NO!_ He could not start blushing again! He didn't have any feeling towards the blue anthro! Doing the only thing that came to mind he pushed Sonic off of him and stood.

After being forcefully shoved to the floor Sonic grunted and rubbed his head slightly as he sat up. "What the heck was that for?" he asked, not at all happy.

Shadow just glared at him. "For being an idiot. What were you doing on the windowsill in the first place?"

Sonic looked away. "Just wated some air."

The black and red hedgehog sighed. He really wasn't in the best of mood to put up with annoying blue thing. Maye he could go into work early. "I'm going to work," he muttered before heading over to grab his coat, put his skates on and left without another word.

Sonic looked up. Work? But Shadow was early. Why would he want to go into work early? Ah well. At least he wouldn't have to put up with his moody attitude any to himself, Sonic got up and sat himself down on the couch, flicking the TV on and flicking through the channels to try and put his mind off of things.

- - -

**Complain all you want. I know the chapter is short but I was pretty tired and didn't have much time to write it. Plus its my birthday. Kind of hard to believe that one year ago I was uploading Phase IX of _Sakura Bloom_. My writing's really changed over the year. Anyway...please review. I'm trying to get this story to have the most hits and reviews.**


	11. Chapter 10

- - -

**Chapter 10: Tracking**

Alright, Sonic was bored. Again. There was nothing on T.V and Shadow was gone. Wait, why did Shadow not being here bother him? He managed to keep himself occupied before he ended up staying under the same roof as Shadow. Although it was kind of nice to just know that someone will be home at some point every day. Since Sonic lived alone the only time he wouldn't be alone would be when he had company (obviously). And if he stayed with Tails at his workshop then he'll only see him when they're discussing things to try and stop who ever was crazy enough to try and take over the world or the young fox had remembered that he needed to spend some time away from his machines in order to eat. Sonic paused from flicking through the channels and looked at a blank spot in the room as he thought. Having Shadow around was kind of...nice. He had noticed something though last night when he woke up and spotted Shadow by the window. The black hedgehog, the way he saw it, had been acting a little different. What could cause him to do that? As far as Sonic knew, Shadow was a grumpy hedgehog who had a hard time trying to make conversation, making friends, preferred to stay alone most of the time, and still had a soft spot for the Maria he cared about so much. It made him wonder just what this girl was like. If Shadow liked her, she must be special.

Emerald eyes wandered the room, in thought of what he should do today. He stopped looking when he spotted another jacket hanging by the door, this one black, like Shadow's rain coat, only it looked more poofier; more for winter. Jumping up off the couch, Sonic opened the window (the one he fell asleep on) and poked his head out of the window, spotting the figure of Shadow not too far from the apartment block. Pulling his head back in and closing the window a grin made its way up his lips, one that said he was plotting something. He ran to where the coat was, putting it on and finding it to be almost a perfect fit. Almost because it was obviously made for someone with a broader chest. Come to think of it, Shadow was a lot more muscle than himself. Sure Sonic had his own share, but he was more slimmer, more lean and agile. But back to the tale...

Sonic pulled up the hood, hoping that it would hide his face and the eye patch before putting his shoes on and leaving. He went at a quick pace in the direction he had spotted Shadow, resisting the urge not to run a: because it would give away who he was and b: it may injure his leg again, something he didn't want. He soon pretty much was only a few metres behind Shadow, trying not to make himself look suspicious as he followed. Shadow hadn't actually told him where he worked, so he hadn't had the chance to spring up at work and annoy him for service. He slowed down as he saw the ebony hedgehog open the door to a small café that had already been open. Walking in front of it he looked at it. Huh. So that was where he worked. Nice place. And just by looking at it from the outside it looked like a cosy place. Sonic sweat dropped a little as he thought that who would guess that Shadow worked at place like this. He always thought that Shadow would work somewhere more...dark...or destructive...not cosy.

- - -

Why did Shadow have the feeling that he was being watched? Well, he was used to the occasional look he got from people since he was the infinite Shadow the Hedgehog. But it had started when he was about half way to the café. It stuck with him even as he arrived. He tried to take a peak out of the corner of his eye when he opened the door but only saw someone with a black jacket with their hood up. Come to think of it, they looked too small to be human. Oh what did he care? They were just another pathetic creature to him. Unless it was the person following him. Or was it another member from the blasted cult?

"Shadow!" a voice called before a white and pink hedgehog jumped up on Shadow in a tight hug. It turned out to be Belle, in her usual café apron. And she appeared to be quite cheerful now that Shadow was there. "What are you doing here? You don't start work until a little later?" she asked, pulling away but still keeping her arms around Shadow's neck, making Shadow feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I thought I'd come earlier," he stated, which was true. "It is my last day and my trial." Why hadn't that girl let go of him? Having her arms around him like that was a little odd. It gave off the wrong message and he swore he could pick up a whisper somewhere in the café asking if they were together. "May I get to work?" he raised an invisible eyebrow.

Belle quickly pulled her arms back, her muzzle slightly red. "Oh, yeah! Sorry." As Shadow walked pass her to get to the back to get ready she glanced out the window, spotting someone who was apparently watching the two hedgehogs dressed in a black hooded jacket. "I wonder who that is?" she thought aloud. "A friend of Shadow's?"

- - -

So they hugged. So what? It's not like it meant anything! Right! Right!? Urgh, why was he getting so agitated about it? It shouldn't bother him. Shadow should be able to go around hugging whoever he wanted, right? Besides, if he hugged Shadow then the black hedgehog would probably freak. He obviously didn't like the other lying on top of him, as he kindly demonstrated earlier. Sonic ran a hand through his quills in the hood, trying to calm himself down. He looked over at the girl who had made a move on Shadow. Wasn't that the white hedgehog he had met the other day? When it had rained and he had pushed himself too hard? Yes it was her. Bill or something. So that was how he knew that girl. And she was looking right at him. Well just standing there would make him look like a stalker (Hold on! Wasn't he just stalking Shadow!?).

Entering the café he found that it was quite warm compared to the outside, that was pretty windy, and had a nice aroma to it. He found a seat in the corner by the wall and away from any windows. Seriously, why would you want people outside to see you eating or slurping at your drinks? Soon enough the white hedgehog came over and asked what he wanted. He just ordered a glass of water and an omelette to eat for breakfast since he hadn't eaten any. She nodded politely and walked away to go to the back where her grandpa was on cooking duty for the day and told the order.

Sonic looked around the café from underneath the hood, noticing that he couldn't spot Shadow from anywhere while calling himself an idiot because he had seen that the girl's name tag said 'Belle' not Bill. The black hedgehog soon emerged from the back wearing a plain white apron. Haha, Shadow in an apron looked pretty strange since he was all black, except for the white fluff which Sonic knew from experience that it really was very fluffy. Just thinking about how soft it was just made him want to brush his fingers through it again...Sonic _really_ wished that he could slap himself right now. But in a public place that would look like he was a maniac. But for thinking something like that. And about Shadow! A guy! Come on! Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't into men! Well...some people can date one guy, but then date a bunch of girls afterwards. That technically wouldn't be classed as gay if it was just a one time thing. But with Shadow!!!

Said hedgehog was busying himself cleaning any dishes, plates, cups and silverware that had been used that morning, not at all minding that the water was boiling hot and would normally burn people. Hello! He was the Ultimate Lifeform! He could handle anything. Well...mostly anything. He looked up through the door that lead to where the customers sat, spotting that same figure that was behind him when he arrived at the café. What made him curious was that even they had sat down and seemed pretty comfortable they still had their hood up. Why not take it down? Come to think of it, didn't he have a jacket like that back home?

Belle suddenly came back in with another order for her grandpa, but before going out walked over to Shadow. "Um, hey Shadow?" he addressed, getting a 'hmm?' from the black hedgehog. "There's a person out there. They're wearing a black jacket. Whoever they are looked like they were watching us as you came in. Do you know them?"

Shadow again glanced up. The hood was pulled foreword, almost purposely hiding their facial features. But the hood looked long, like it was covering quills so it could be a hedgehog. Wait...black jacket from home...hedgehog...if it was that annoying blue thing he had come here to get away from then he was _so_ going to get it. "I'm not sure," he replied simply. "Have they placed an order?"

"Yes they have," she replied. "A glass of water and an omelette."

Shadow thought for a moment. Was that the kind of thing Sonic would order? Then again, that sounds like something many people would order. "When they get their food ask them to take their hood down. If they protest say that it makes them look like some sort of threat."

Belle nodded. It was true, they did look a little scary. The way the hood shrouded their face...The petite hedgehog quickly went over to her grandpa to pick up an order for someone, quickly doing so before filling up a glass of water for this stranger like they requested. "Here you go sir," she said, putting the glass down in front of them. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, would it be possible to put your hood down? It's just that, well as funny as it is it kind of makes you look like some kind of threat." She laughed a little at this, trying to make light of the situation.

Sonic took a sip from the water, making sure not to tilt his head back enough for his face to be revealed. He gave the girl a look when she said the word 'threat'. _'Oh, **I'm** a threat? I've saved you and everyone else's arses hundreds of times and you have the cheek to call me a threat?'_ Sonic shook his head at Belle. "I'm sorry. I have...er...terrible acne."Lame excuse. But it should work, right? It would have to. What else could there be?

Tilting her head to one side Belle asked, "You do?" earning a nod from Sonic (but she didn't know it was him). "Oh I'm sure it isn't that bad."

"It is," the blue blur continued with his lie. "I'm still meant to be in school. But every day I was teased harshly by the other children. It was so hurtful. I was given nicknames like 'pizza face' or 'pimple boy'. All of the bullies would do horrible things to me like lock in my own locker, beat me up after school or just join in on the name calling. In the end it became so bad that I couldn't take it anymore."

Belle by name was holding her notepad to write orders on underneath her nose so it covered her mouth, tears in her eyes at this supposed sad story. "That...That's so horrible. Didn't you tell the principle know?"

Sonic nodded, rubbing his eyes that couldn't be seen because of the hood. Well eye, anyway. Just be dramatic. Which he could be at times. Hey, it's Sonic. "Yes I did," he tried to add a little sadness in his voice. "But he didn't do anything about it. So in the end my parents just came into school one day and took me home, telling me that I would never go back to that school."

Now the tears in Belle's eyes where falling down her face. "I...I'm sorry...that...happened to you," she apologized, hiccupping in between words.

Sonic just smiled up at the girl sadly, his muzzle being just about the only thing you could see. "It's okay. Most of the time I just stay home helping mom around the house. She's glad the extra help is there since dad doesn't really help out much. I guess some good came out of this."

Belle nodded politely at him. "Yeah...It was nice meeting you. I do hope you're acne gets better." She gave a slight bow before returning to the back to Shadow holding her hands together and looking down at the floor, ears folded. She looked up at Shadow who was giving her a look that said 'well then?'. She let out a sigh. "Acne. He has terrible acne...so bad...he had to leave school..." The girl burst into tears now.

Shadow just sighed. One reason being Belle was now crying and the other because that story seemed highly unlikely. Red eyes glanced at the crying girl. He was never one for calming people down when they cried. The only time he had ever tried calming someone was whenever Maria cried or that time that small rabbit lost her chao with the funny little bow and decided to get him to help. _Him!_ Can you believe it? A strange question suddenly popped up in his head. Had Sonic cried before? He didn't know why he wondered it. Maybe because of what he thought last night was still eating away at him. But still, it was a pretty good question. He had seen him look down, possibly depressed (probably why Rouge gave him those pills) but never really cry. It made him wonder if Sonic did that whenever he was alone. Shadow knew that all of the hero work put a lot of pressure on Sonic. He knew of the thrill that he got as well for he had felt it himself whenever he had fought of evil. But then there would be the after feeling, once everything is over. Sometime it would be a good feeling, somewhat happy and satisfied. Until you learn that someone was either injured badly or even dead. Shadow knew of what Sonic was like. The blue hedgehog would probably beat himself up for days, months, years, possibly the rest of his life if that happened.

"...Shadow?"

Said hedgehog looked up from the plate he was cleaning towards the white and pink hedgehog. "Yes?"

"Um...Are you okay? You looked a little spaced out," asked Belle, giving Shadow a curious look. She had known Shadow for only five or six days and knew that it wasn't like him to just zone out like that.

Okay, yes, he had spaced out. Why? Because of thoughts about that bloody blue hedgehog again! Damn it Shadow the Hedgehog, you do _not_ love him! You were just confused at the time and just immediately thought it was love. "I'm fine," he replied simply.

"Belle! We have an order ready!" Gord called over, holding a plate in his hand with an omelette on it. Belle just nodded and grabbed the plate, quickly took it out, figuring that it belonged to the hooded figure, placing it down on the table. "Here you are sir. I hope you enjoy it." She was about to walk away when the other grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Excuse me but..." he was trying hard not to act like himself, otherwise if Shadow took note of it then it would blow his disguise. "If you're not busy, could you keep me company? It's not often that I leave the house."

Belle pondered for a moment and looked around the café. Well, there wasn't any other customers around. She turned back to the figure and smiled, sitting down in the seat opposite to him. "Sure. Why not? We're not really that busy today. Well. It is still morning." She let out a small laugh before giving the figure a puzzled look. "By the way, what's your name?"

Sonic looked up at Belle, having to think quick on his feet to come up with a quick name. "It's...er...Bill. Just call me Bill," he replied quickly before pretending to look over at the girl's name tag. "And you're Belle? Right?"

The white furry smiled and nodded. "Yes that's me. Um, I couldn't help but noticed that you were looking in when a friend of mine came in. He's a black and red hedgehog with a cute little white patch on his chest." The girl stopped there and looked away with a blush on her face. "...I mean um..."

Sonic tilted his head to one side, feeling something flare in him slightly when she said the word 'cute'. What was that? What was wrong with him? First he was annoyed with this Belle hugging Shadow and now at the fact that she called him cute. "Forgive me if I'm wrong...but do you _like_ Shadow?"

Belle's cheeks immediately turned red and she shuffled in her seat. "N-No. I've only known him for about five days," she quickly said, wanting to just die since her face was so red. And because her fur was white it could be seen.

_Why_ did he feel like he didn't really like this girl anymore? Well, it wasn't that he didn't like her...it was just her reaction. Why didn't he like that? But like Belle said, she only knew Shadow for a short while. Although there was that saying 'love at first sight'. But _why_ did it irk him so much!? Argh, this was annoying! But to keep his act up he just grinned at her. "Whatever you say."

Shadow, meanwhile, had been occasionally glancing out of the doorway at his co-worker and the strange figure. He didn't mean to be sexist, but that was typical of a girl. He asked her to try and get his hood down to find out who he is (getting the feeling that it was the person he thought was following him after Belle mentioned that they were watching them) but instead she was now sat down and having a random conversation to them. Unless she was talking to him to try and get the dirt on him. But it was Belle. And as far as he knew she was like most dim-witted girls. He sighed and finished cleaning the plate he held and then put it on a small rack that held other plates, dishes, etc before getting on to drying them.

Throughout most of the morning Sonic, or Bill, and Belle were just sat at the table talking to each other and laughing at many things, Belle often leaving for a short while to see to customers. Luckily Belle hadn't managed to figure out that it was actually the world famous Sonic the Hedgehog sat right in front of her. Sure they had met and spoken once before and at first he didn't know who she was, but if he were to pull his hood down at this very second everyone would stop eating and come over to him. And most likely question his eye patch. Sonic's face dropped slightly as he thought about the patch. The female hedgehog was currently serving a customer so she didn't notice this. But the whole losing an eye thing...it was pretty sensitive to him. If he was forced to admit, then Sonic would say that losing his sight is almost as bad as his fear of water. Sonic hardly ever took a bath just because there was too much water. Letting out a sigh he sat back in his chair not liking that he brought up the subject of his eye again. Sonic _loved_ to see the world around him as he went on all different sorts of adventures. Most people believe that because he runs so fast he doesn't take anything in. But he does. Whenever he finds a beautiful landscape, whether it being a field of flowers, a lake (just as long as he stayed away from the very edge of it), or even a desert he paused to just look at its beauty. He often found places that no other person would find. Like the Chao Gardens. Not many people found them. But when they did it was often destroyed. One reason why Sonic just liked to stop for a moment or nap close by. Because he knew that eventually...it would be gone. And if he lost his sight fully, then he would never be able to see it all before it goes.

"Sorry about that," Belle said, sitting back down opposite Sonic again. After talking to this guy for the entire morning she had become quite accustom to him and although she knew she should be working she couldn't help but just come over at have a chat. This guy seemed really interesting. Although the story about his acne still upset her (even though it wasn't real but she didn't know that). She just wished that he would take his hood down. Surely he couldn't be as ugly as he made himself sound like. Another part of her was just wishing that Shadow was more like him. Shadow was much more secretive than Bill. He kept things to himself. Like earlier, something was obviously going on in the black hedgehog's mind. But when she asked if something was up he just said he was fine.

"Oh don't worry about it," Sonic dismissed with a wave of his hand. But he soon gave her a serious look. Something was bothering him. About when he asked about Shadow. She flushed. It reminded him of when he had gotten that feeling after admitting about the pills. All the times Shadow had been so close to him. Telling him that he could talk to him. "Belle...can I ask about earlier? When I asked if you liked Shadow?"

Belle again flushed. "Alright, I may like him a bit," she admitted. "I mean, he's so dark and mysterious. A girl likes a mysterious guy."

Sonic just grinned at her. "Yeah. Well I wouldn't really know since I'm not a girl," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, secretly thinking to himself that he knew more about the black hedgehog than she did. Wait, was he feeling jealous? What did it matter to him if the two where always together because of work, or that they hugged, or that she thinks he's cute. Although, Sonic hated to admit it but he did catch himself staring at Shadow sometimes for no apparent reason, usually when the black hedgehog stretched his muscles.

Laughing a little, Belle just gave a nod. "Yeah, I guess you're right there. I asked him yesterday if he would like to go somewhere with me tomorrow since he isn't working then. It'll be just the two of us so it'll kind of be like a date." Her cheeks turned slightly red at this. She knew at the time that it would kind of be like a date. She wondered if Shadow saw it like that. If he didn't but found out half way through, man that would be embarrassing.

Sonic almost froze. "A...date...?" he questioned without realizing his sudden change in his mood. Shadow was going out on a date. With this girl. Oh he was getting that feeling again. That one that he thought was jealousy. Seriously, he wondered what made the black hedgehog wanted to go on a date with Belle. Well he didn't really see any discomfort on his face when they hugged. Had Shadow actually found a girlfriend? But why did Sonic care? What was so bothering about this? Seeing a customer, Belle quickly excused herself and decided to go and see to them.

Sonic glanced around, spotting Shadow out of the corner of his eye placing a few glass behind the counter. He was so confused. What was this strange feeling he was getting when thinking of Shadow? It wasn't the usual rival type he had when around him. And it wasn't friendship. It was something...more. But just what was this 'more'? The two were a lot like a reflection of each other. Where one lacked something, the other would make up for it. But even thinking that made Sonic wonder...Was it just really a reflection...or more?

- - -

**Two chapters in one month! A personal achievement for me :) Anyway I felt a little bad that my last chapter was just rushed so I spent all day despite feeling ill to make this little chapter for all you special readers. Now after checking just now this story has 8,594 hits and 75 reviews. Yeyz. Hopefully more. Currently its in fourth place in reviews, second for hits and first for favs :) **

**Please leave a review. Flames are slightly annoying to me but leave them anyone. Hey it boosts the review part. Honestly, I'm not that proud of it. There are far more better fanfictions than this and I often get down about it. But I still go ahead and write despite how bad this thing is.**

**Oh and btw, Animesaki, you are ery cheeky for saying such a thing ;) lol**

**Again, please leave reviews.**


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